EcoS Guidelines - How to Format Your MA Poster

What is the purpose of the MA poster?

The MA poster is a means of giving a quick overview of your MA thesis, illustrating the main points of your work (download the MA Poster template).

What to include on my MA poster?

The poster will help you to present the main points of your MA thesis in a structured manner. At the top, you state your name, and the title and subtitle of your thesis. The main body consists of seven sections in a pre-set order:.

    • Section 1: Topic and Research Question

    Here you introduce the topic of your MA thesis as well as your research question(s). You should also include a few words on the relevance of your research.

    • Section 2: State of the Art

    You can keep this section relatively short. Simply comment on the status of research in the field, mention the major works that exist and which ones were of utmost importance for your thesis.

    • Section 3: Methodology and Approach

    Here you explain how you approach the task of answering your research question(s), on which theories you rely, which methods you use, what your analytical framework is etc.

    • Section 4: Main Facts

    This section represents the empirical part of your thesis, where you provide relevant information based on your analytical framework. You will have to be selective, so please only highlight the most interesting / important facts of your research.

    • Section 5: Results

    Here is the place to present your key findings, to answer your Research question(s), and - perhaps - to give an outlook on future research.

    • Section 6: References

    Keep this section short. It is sufficient to simply provide a link to your MA thesis, stating that all references can be found there.

    • Section 7: About the Author

    Please provide a photo and some personal details that might be interesting to others, e.g. your previous tertiary education (incl. titles) or future employers. Do not forget to include your contact information (email address) and the date of your oral examination.

Please note: Make sure to closely stick to the MA Poster Template to include all the required information. Please do not add other sections (e.g. chapter titles, list of figures etc.), and make sure to write in proper English. It is further highly recommended to include a graphical element (e.g. a photo, table, or graph) in your poster.

How to use the MA Poster Template?

The MA Poster Template is a .dot file, meaning that all settings for the text body, titles/subtitles and bullet points are predetermined. Please do not change the font styles, size, colours etc. Simply add your personal text and any photos/tables/graphs where appropriate. Also make sure to stick to the one page limit.