When: Tuesday 18 March 2025, 9:45 am – 12:30 pm
Where: Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster, London

About the event

ECR Connect is the AI UK event dedicated to early career researchers (ECRs), providing professional networking and career development opportunities. During the event, researchers will have the chance to network with peers, showcase their research, hear directly from experts, and exchange knowledge to foster new collaborations. Specifically, the event aims to:

  • Expose attendees to topics and individuals that support their career development.
  • Create a dedicated space for professional networking and strengthen collaborations at a national level.
  • Offer opportunities for research showcasing and knowledge dissemination.

This event is part of the Turing Connections initiative.

To attend this session, you must be either a PhD student, a post-doc, or transitioning to independent research (up to 5 years from PhD submission). Registrations will remain open until the event reaches capacity.

Agenda

  • 9:45 – 11:00: ECRs Networking brunch
  • 11:00 – 11:15: Welcome and introduction by the Skills team at The Alan Turing Institute
  • 11:15 – 12:15: Career panel discussion. Speakers will be announced soon.
  • 12:15 onwards: Posters presentations.

Call for posters

We invite you to present an optional research poster. You will need to provide the title of your poster, the subject area, a 250-word abstract, and relevant keywords. Posters will be showcased during ECR Connect and will be available for viewing by all AI UK attendees.

Submission deadline: Sunday, 23 February 2025.
Successful presenters contacted: By Monday, 3 March 2025.

How to submit a poster

1. Register for AI UK
2. Email [email protected] for the poster submission link

Please note: if your submission is successful, you’ll be responsible for printing the poster and bringing it on the day. All posters must be one page, A0 format (84.1 x 118.9 cm or 33.1 x 46.8 inches), or A1 format (59.4 x 84.1 cm or 23.4 x 33.1 inches). For further guidance please see below.

Poster planning

Adapted from: UCL (2022). Designing Your Poster. [online] Creative Services.

Your poster must include

  • Title
  • Authors
  • Affiliations – always use the correct standalone logo and any sponsors logos

Structure

  • Identify your main message and divide the information into main sections.
  • Introduction / purpose – what is your project about? Why is it important?
  • Methods – what happened?
  • Results – a good place for graphics
  • Summary / Conclusions
  • Future directions – a brief description

Writing your text

  • Think about how much text to use and where graphics can be used instead.
  • Most posters contain too much text. Deciding what to leave out is one of the most difficult decisions. Keep everything relevant.
  • Think about the visual aesthetics of your poster but don’t use images just to decorate.
  • Start by roughing out layout ideas on paper, it will save time in the long run.

Poster setup

General

  • Poster must be one page, A0 format (84.1 x 118.9 cm or 33.1 x 46.8 inches), or A1 format (59.4 x 84.1 cm or 23.4 x 33.1 inches).
  • When you create and include imagery, add these at as high a resolution as possible in JPEG or PNG format
  • Border – it is recommended that you use a minimum of 1.5 cm at the edges for visual aesthetics and to avoid cropping of content.

Legibility

  • Aim for 300 – 600 words that are concise and to the point.
  • Avoid font size below 24pt and use a maximum of two fonts
  • Minimise the use of italics, underlining and CAPITALS
  • Break up large areas of text.
  • Slightly increasing line spacing can help clarity.
  • Left justified text is easier to read that fully justified and avoids ugly gaps.
  • Set headings in bold using sentence case, avoid the use of shadows and embossing.
  • To ensure accessibility, avoid the use of coloured text, try to keep black wherever possible unless you are using a colour background.

Layout

  • Columns assist reading order which is usually top to bottom and left to right.
  • Use clear headings and subheadings in bold.
  • Use images to break up text into smaller chunks, create a sense of balance and help the flow across the poster.
  • Using blank space can emphasise an image or text, avoids clutter and focuses on your message.
  • A grid structure will help to align elements which makes your poster easier to read.

Graphs and Images

  • You decide how your poster is structured but try to strike the right balance between too little and too much text. The same principle applies to figures.
  • Graphs and charts can be more effective than tables in showing data trends in numerical data. However, tables can be included.
  • Keep graphs and charts simple – 2D is usually clearer.
  • Use high resolution images
  • When using images follow GDPR regulations especially where you are using images of people.
  • All images downloaded from online sources are subject to copyright unless this has been waived and is under a Creative Commons licence.

Colours

  • Try not to use too many colours.1-2 works well plus images and charts.
  • Think about colour blindness, red, green and pink can all be hard to read.
  • Use strong tonal contrast to help visibility e.g., dark text on a light background. Black on white is the clearest.