SPHHS Research Day

Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Time: 12 - 5 p.m.
Location: Campus Center Auditorium

The SPHHS will host its annual Research Day on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, from 12 to 5 p.m. in the Campus Center Auditorium. 

Now in its 27th year, SPHHS Research Day is an annual showcase for the research and practice conducted by students working with faculty mentors in all of our departments. Undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdoctoral researchers, are invited to present their work to the faculty, staff, peers, and the broader community.

Poster presentations are judged by a faculty jury. SPHHS graduate students and undergraduate students in Kinesiology, Nutrition, Public Health Sciences, and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences are eligible for prizes, as follows:

Two graduate student posters will be selected to receive SPHHS Travel Awards to be used toward expenses associated with presenting at a conference of their choice. One of these will be given to the first-place winner from a graduate student in a public health department (Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Environmental Health Sciences, Health Promotion and Policy); the second $1,500 prize will be awarded to a graduate student in the Health Sciences (Kinesiology, Nutrition, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences). There will also be three Graduate Student Poster Prizes and three Undergraduate Student Poster Prizes.

All presenters are eligible for selection by the Delta Omega Public Health Honor Society to present their work at the Delta Omega section of the American Public Health Association Annual Conference (October 27-30, Minneapolis).

Research Day Poster Abstract Submission Form

We're now accepting abstract submissions. Apply here!

Abstract Submission Deadline: Friday, April 5th, 2024 (11:59 PM).

Research Day Schedule

12–1:30 pm: Poster session A

1:30–2:30 pm: Featured speaker Mark Chang, “Preparing for the New Era of AI”

2:30–4:00 pm: Poster session B

4–4:45 pm: Faculty research presentations

  • Christine St Laurent, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
  • Song Liang, Professor and Chair of Environmental Health Sciences
  • Chaoran Ma, Assistant Professor of Nutrition

4:45–5:00 pm: Poster awards presentation

Sample Template

A sample PPT template can be found here. Students are welcome to use it or one provided by your faculty sponsor.

Design Instruction

Present your information so a coherent and straight-forward story is told, clearly articulating the greater implications of the work presented for public health and health science. Emphasize the most important points and avoid overwhelming the viewer with too much detail. Specific recommendations include:

  • In the introduction, briefly summarize the necessary background that led to this work, clearly identify the purpose or specific aims of the study, and identify the questions asked or hypothesis(es) tested. If your poster is in the “practice” category, please describe the theoretical basis for the intervention or policy.
  • Provide sufficient detail about methodology used to conduct the study, including number and necessary demographics of the participants studied. If your poster is in the “practice” category, provide supporting evidence for the approach or policy and the goals and objectives to be achieved.
  • Results can be effectively presented by tables, figures, quotes, illustrations, and/or photographs. For each table, figure, etc., a clear legend will go a long way in highlighting and briefly discussing the essential points. For program plans, please provide a clear logic model.
  • For the summary and conclusion, briefly state the "bottom lines" of your work, its significance in your field, and clearly articulate the implications for public health/health science. 
  • In the acknowledgment section, identify funding source(s), institutional support, and individuals who have contributed significantly but are not listed as authors. 

Please note: You may present preliminary data.

Poster Printing

Research posters can be printed at the UMass Amherst Learning Commons. Follow the link for more information.

Note: Below is the competition criteria for 2022. The criteria is currently under review and updates for 2023 are pending.

Competition Criteria

Judging for Research Day awards will be a combination of scores for abstracts, posters, and presentations based on the qualities below. The poster is a display of a project in which you have actively participated. ALL STUDENT POSTERS will be judged unless a student specifically requests to be exempted (reminder: post-doctoral fellows are encouraged to participate in Research Day, but are not eligible for awards).

Quality of Poster - Visual Presentation based on presenting each of the following:

  • Context – significance of the presented research
  • Methods
  • Results (data/philosophy/theory)
  • Discussion/conclusions
  • Study implications

As well as:

  • Clear and easy to read
  • Graphs and figures easy to follow

Quality of Poster - Oral Presentation based on concisely articulating each of the following: 

  • Context - significance of the presented research
  • Methods
  • Results (data/philosophy/theory)
  • Discussion/conclusions
  • Study implications