NC State
Graduate Student Association

PackPics

Hello Wolfpack!

Current Application Status: The Spring 2022 Application Window is closed, all applications are under review, and results will be announced on April 15, 2022.

Contest Information

  • Students are encouraged to create an infographic poster to promote their current or past research while conducted at NC State. It should communicate the work visually and be understood by all audiences, regardless of background. Please avoid traditional conference poster formatting; refer to examples of infographics online.
  • Posters will be comprehensively scored on their content, design, and context.
  • All posters will be featured in a virtual showcase on the NCSU Graduate School Flickr.
  • The poster should be the student’s original and individual work.

Submission Portal Opens on December 5th, 2021.

  • PackPics 2021-2022 Submission Portal (2022-2023 submissions will begin late Fall 2022)

Deadline: Monday, February 14th, 2022 at 11:59 PM. 

Rules and Regulation:

General rules:

  • We do not limit the types of content you can use to create a poster as long as it relates to your research or area of study. Please keep the poster professional in terms of the information used. We reserve the right to reject submissions that the Research Recognition Committee feels uncomfortable sharing with the graduate community.
  • Each student is limited to one submission; if multiple submissions are received, only the most recent one will be used for evaluation.
  • This should be the student’s individual and original work; group submissions or co-authored work will not be accepted.
  • We only accept static posters for this contest (video and gif elements are not allowed).
  • Each student can only win a single award, and the highest award will be given to a student in the case of wins in multiple categories.

Size limitation:

  • The recommended size is 18 x 24 inches for optimum resolution.
  • We are not imposing a size limitation for the submission.
  • Note: Irregular print sizes may limit the quality of hard copy infographics gifted to winning submissions.

Accepted format:

  • Please refer to the software guide on the website for a summary of different platforms available to you to create your infographic.
  • PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, SVG, and ZIP are accepted file types.
  • Please use the pdf format if possible.

Awards:

There will be six total award categories. Four of them will include the best overall score, best design, best visual effect, and best content/information. Consideration for the remaining two awards listed below is optional. These submissions must be accompanied by a brief summary explaining their relevance to the respective category:

Homegrown Award:

  • If the students want to be evaluated in this category, they need to submit a summary that explains how the poster contributes to NCSU as a whole. In other words, how does the research help promote NCSU? Please summarize in 300 words or less.

Outreach Award:

  • If the students want to be evaluated in this category, they need to submit a summary that explains the local, national, or global impacts of the work. Please summarize in 300 words or less.

Useful Information:

Helpful information

FAQs:

  1. Do I have to submit to the homegrown or the outreach award competitions?
    • No, these contests are optional. You are encouraged to only submit to these contests if your submission meets the specific criteria outlined above.
  2. Is this the same as a conference poster?
    • No, we encourage you to focus on visual elements that present information quickly and clearly. Avoid jargon, block text, and lengthy datasets. Refer to infographic examples online.
  3. Are co-authors or collaborators allowed on my submission?
    • No, you must be the sole creator of your infographic. Although your work may represent a collaborative project, please only include your original content. You are welcome to acknowledge a particular lab group or PI as a footnote on your poster.
  4. I’m currently not involved in active research (e.g. Non-thesis Master’s or new graduate students). Does this mean I can’t submit to the competition?
    • Absolutely not! You are encouraged to submit an infographic related to your current field, i.e. your degree field.
  5. Will the scoring rubric be available to us?
    • To encourage creativity and limit content restrictions, we are not providing the scoring rubric to participants until after submissions are collected. The evaluation method will be generated based on the diversity of submissions received and employed in a blinded, unbiased review process by non-participants. Please refer to examples of published infographics for ideas.

Contacts: