Visualise Your Thesis Competition

Entries will be judged against the following criteria:

Impact (score: __ / 20)

• How well designed, creative, innovative and engaging is the entry?
• Is it visually striking and memorable?
• Does it attract from a distance and deliver details close up?
• Does it make a good first impression and then offer rich content on further examination?
• Does it make the most of the available technology?

Sound (note that sound is optional; the following criteria may not apply to every entry)

• Was the sound/music in keeping with the mood/style of the presentation?
• Did the music/sound contribute to the impact of the presentation?
• Did any transitions/visual effects align with the beat/soundtrack?
• Was the music/sound edited to fit the 60 second loop, rather than just finishing abruptly?

Content (score: __ / 20)

• Does the entry provide an understanding of the research question being addressed, its significance, and potential impact?
• Is the research communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
• Is the entry free from jargon, unexplained acronyms and incomprehensible technical terms?
• Does the entry leave you inspired and curious?

Scholarly Citizenship (score: __ / 20)

• Does the entry include complete and correct references for any resources used to create the entry? Including: citation of any images, audio, video, tools and data.
• Does the entry include a valid ORCID on the title slide?
• Copyright – material included in the entry complies with the copyright rules of the competition, and the entry contains only material that falls into the following categories:
  • In the Public Domain;
  • Licensed under Creative Commons;
  • Content used with permission, or under an appropriate licence;
  • Original content created by the student themselves.
• Does the entry include acknowledgements for other people or groups who helped with the project or entry?

Download the ePoster PowerPoint template to your computer, delete the text, images and video in the template and add your own content.

You may add additional slides to the template, however:

• Your entire presentation will be displayed for at most 60 seconds, and
• The maximum file size allowed is 100 MB.

Your ePoster will be displayed using (PowerPoint 2016) for Windows. Please test your ePoster before completing it.

To test your ePoster, view your PowerPoint slideshow on a computer at the university that has standard software installed, such as on any student computer in a University of Melbourne library branch that you need to log in to.

Once you have completed your ePoster:

1. Save a copy of the PowerPoint file. Only .pptx files will be accepted.
2. Email your entry to: eposter@lists.unimelb.edu.au with the subject line: ‘Research Week Poster Competition Entry’
   1. If the .pptx file is less than 15 MB, you can attach your PowerPoint file to the email.
   2. If the file larger than 15 MB, include a link in the email to your poster on Dropbox, Google Drive or CloudStor.
   3. Your entry will be confirmed by email receipt. If you do not hear from us, please contact us at eposter@lists.unimelb.edu.au

You are responsible for proof-reading and testing your poster before submission, see the tips and submission checklist below.

Yes and no! As long as you retain the pre-formatted bookend slides (= the title and references) you are free to add your own content – this can be in the form of images, video and/or audio, and does not have to be just text.

There is a 60 second time limit for entries; however, you can include as few or as many slides as you wish, keeping in mind that:

• You must include the first slide and last slide, i.e. the title slide and references slides
• Your presentation (excl. bookend slides) should run for a maximum of 60 seconds
• Your title and reference slide(s) should run for 5 seconds each
• The maximum file size for your PowerPoint file is 100 MB

Yes, you can include audio in your entry but consider that the maximum file size for your entry is 100 MB. Please make sure that any audio material is copyright compliant and referenced appropriately. Considering the nature of the competition, which emphasises visualising your thesis, we recommend that audio is used to enhance, not carry an entry – your entry should able to stand on its own, without the audio elements.

The University of Melbourne is committed to creating an accessible International Competition gallery, so if your entry progresses to the International Competition you may be required to provide an audio transcript.

You can, provided that the material is copyright compliant and/or you have the appropriate licences and permissions to reproduce it. Broad categories that web-sourced material you use should fall into are

• Creative Commons licensed material (excluding material with a Share-alike (SA) or Noncommercial (NC) licence)
• Public Domain works (= materials which are not protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws)
• Material under license or with permission

For more information refer to the copyright resources and videos on the 2019 Visualise Your Thesis International Competition website. Also check the resources the UniMelb Copyright Office site.

Make sure that all materials used in your entry are be cited, regardless of source.

There are numerous websites which provide access to Open Access images – Pixabay, Unsplash, and Snappy Goat are a few examples. Many archives and libraries (including the British Library) make their digitised collections available via Flickr Commons – Flickr being another popular image hosting website.

For music, sites like Incompetech, MuseOpen and ccMixter offer Creative Commons-licenced content. CC Search links to media, image and music platforms with content you can use and remix.

Make sure to check the individual licence of any object you are thinking of using, and include appropriate citations in the reference slide of your entry.

No. You are welcome to create content outside of PowerPoint, then embed it into the template (retaining the title and reference slides). If you create content in third-party applications (such as animation tools) make sure that you have the appropriate permissions or licences. Many of these tools offer a free account, but make sure to check the Terms of Use.

The Visualise Your Thesis competition is open to currently-enrolled graduate researchers (i.e. students enrolled in M.Phil., Masters by Research, Ph.D. or Professional Doctorate programmes) at any stage of their candidature who are active and attending.

Not eligible to enter the competition are:

• Honours students
• Masters by coursework students (even if their program has a research/thesis component).

No. Only currently-enrolled graduate researchers who are active and attending are eligible to enter the competition. If you are on a leave of absence unfortunately you are not eligible to enter. If your candidature has lapsed you are also ineligible to enter the competition.

No. You can only enter once, so you will have to decide whether you’d like to represent your university or research institute.

Entries should be unique and original. The resubmission of previous entries is only permitted where substantial revision has occurred. And no doubt your research has progressed significantly, and you’d like your entry to reflect this!

Replace the text in the template by typing or pasting in your own text.

Remove the images in the template and add your own images to support your descriptions such as data visualisations, graphs, an infographic, tables, or photos.

Be creative and change the layout, text boxes, colours and fonts, just make sure you:

• Do not change the layout, design, or colours of the title slide, and the references slide (i.e. the first and last slides).
• Do not use a body text font size smaller than 14 pt.
• Do not change the Page Setup in PowerPoint (your ePoster will be displayed on an screen in widescreen format).
• Include the required information on the poster as specified in the template: Introduction, Research Significance, Method, Results, Conclusion, however note that:
  • You may include this information in the form of text, images, video and/or audio.
  • If you use text, you can modify the headings in the template to suit your project, for example: 'Background' instead of 'Introduction', ‘Approach’ instead of ‘Method’, or ‘Implications’ instead of ‘Conclusion'.
  • Depending on the stage of your project, you may not have results or a conclusion yet, however you can state this and include any information or ideas you have at this stage.
• Consider copyright, particularly when adding images, audio or video to your poster, see the advice on the University of Melbourne Copyright Office website.
• Include a valid Twitter handle or Instagram handle: people will be encouraged to tweet to poster authors with questions and comments, and to post photos of the awards event.

Set your slides to advance automatically in PowerPoint:

1. Select the Transitions tab.
2. Tick the After checkbox.
3. Enter the number of seconds you wish to display the slide for.

For further instructions, see: Set the speed and timing of transitions

Note: your entire PowerPoint presentation should display for a maximum total time of 60 seconds.

Your poster will be displayed using Microsoft (PowerPoint 2016) for Windows, ensure that any audio or video files you embed in your poster are in formats supported.

Supported audio and video file formats: Video and audio file formats supported in (PowerPoint 2016)

Note that embedded online videos, such as YouTube or Vimeo videos or similar will not work, as the screens will not be connected to the internet.

If animations or videos do not run, they may be removed without discussion with you. Therefore it is recommended that you provide a representative image in the correct place, in case this is necessary.

Make sure your audio and video:

1. Is embedded in the PowerPoint file. Do not submit separate media files.
2. Starts automatically and loops continuously. Your e-poster will be displayed in rotation with a number of other posters on a screen in slide show mode. No interaction will be possible.
3. Is optimised and compressed.

Further instructions

• Compress the media files in your presentation
• Are you having video or audio playback issues?

For further help with PowerPoint, see:

• PowerPoint training: tutorials for all versions of PowerPoint for Mac and Windows
• Pick IT Up Online (requires unimelb login)

This competition does not have a verbal presentation component and relies purely on each submission's visual presentation. Students who are in earlier stages of research (have not reached confirmation/ before writing up) are also welcome to enter the competition.

Please email us at: eposter@lists.unimelb.edu.au