Poster design and pitching
Poster design and pitching
3 June 2026, 9h00 - 17h
General context
Communicating your research effectively is essential for visibility and impact. This training helps you design clear, visually appealing posters and deliver confident, concise pitches that engage your audience. You’ll learn how to transform complex data into compelling (visual) narratives that resonate with both scientific and non-specialist audiences. By mastering these skills, you’ll stand out at conferences and networking events, making your research memorable and accessible.
This training is intended for PhD students, postdocs, and researchers who want to improve their poster design and pitching skills.
After completing this training, participants will be able to:
Design a research poster that communicates research clearly and visually.
Apply principles of layout, typography, and color to enhance readability and impact.
Identify the core message of their research and structure it into a concise pitch.
Demonstrate effective verbal and non-verbal communication during a pitch.
Adapt their pitch for different audiences and time constraints.
The training combines short lectures, interactive discussions, and hands-on exercises.
Participants will design a poster using best practices, prepare and deliver a short pitch with peer and trainer feedback.
Basic understanding of your own research project.
Required materials:
- If available, bring your current research poster or draft (original or printed).
- Laptop.
PowerPoint
Other tools are available and participants are encouraged to use what they are comfortable with (i.e. Canva, GIMP, Inkscape, Google slides, etc)
This course was particularly useful given my career stage as a last-year PhD student. I will go to an important
conference in May and I wanted to up my poster game and pitching skills.
Luis Fernando Duran Armenta
I enjoyed the training and I learned from it. It was mostly coming out of your comfort zone (which is scary) but the trainer as well as the participants created a safe space to learn, make mistakes, try again, etc.
Sarah Vanvolsem
Trainers
Matheus Lourenço
Matheus Lourenço is a science communication expert and trainer at VIB. A behaviour change specialist and Marie-Curie fellow with a joint PhD in Psychology from KU Leuven and Maastricht University, he pioneered innovative methodologies in tinnitus treatment and gathered accolades for his ability to make complex scientific approaches accessible to diverse audiences.
After completing his PhD, Matheus worked as a consultant to leading pharmaceutical companies, delivering strategic workshops worldwide. Now back in academia, he is committed to empowering researchers to communicate their work with clarity and impact, thereby strengthening the connection between science and society.
Program
Morning - Poster Design
Welcome and introduction
Principles of effective poster design
Break
Hands-on poster design exercise
Lunch
Afternoon - Pitching
Why pitching matters
Crafting your research pitch
Break
Pitch practice and feedback
Practical info
03 June 2026
Antwerp - Campus Drie Eiken UAntwerpen
Universiteitsplein 1
2610 Antwerpen
Belgium
03 June 2026
Antwerp - Campus Drie Eiken UAntwerpen
Antwerp has a dense public transportation network. Buses and trams are available to take you to many different parts of the city. There are direct bus links to various other towns and cities as well. Plan your route using the De Lijn timetables.
- Campus Middelheim - Campus Groenenborger: around 7 min. on foot
- Campus Middelheim - Campus Drie Eiken: around 35 min.
- Campus Groenenborger - Campus Drie Eiken: around 45 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Middelheim: around 45 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Groenenborger: around 55 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Drie Eiken: around 60 min.
Did you know Antwerp also has a water bus? You can use it to travel between the Antwerp city centre and nearby towns.
03 June 2026
Antwerp - Campus Drie Eiken UAntwerpen
Antwerp is a bike-friendly city. Get to know the smart and cheap way to travel around in Antwerp fot students.
For short trips in and around the city, a rental bike is ideal. Apart from the student bicycle and the Velo city bikes, there are several other bike rental options.
Do you need to cross the Scheldt? Check the availability of the bike lifts and escalators of the tunnels, or take Antwerp’s ferry service with your bike.
Cycling between campuses:
- Stadscampus - Campus Middelheim: 20 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Groenenborger: 25 min.
- Stadscampus - Campus Drie Eiken: 30 min.
- Campus Middelheim - Campus Groenenborger: 4 min.
- Campus Middelheim - Campus Drie Eiken: 10 min.
- Campus Groenenborger - Campus Drie Eiken: 8 min.
The newest way to travel around Antwerp is by shared electric scooter.
03 June 2026
Antwerp - Campus Drie Eiken UAntwerpen
It’s recommended to travel to and in Antwerp by public transport. If you are travelling by car, take the following into account:
- There are P+R zones where you can park on various main roads into Antwerp. They are ideal places to switch to bus, tram or bike a few kilometres from the campus.
- The Antwerp city centre and part of Linkeroever (Antwerp’s left bank) are a low-emission zone: highly polluting vehicles are not allowed into the city.
- Keep in mind that the zone around the Stadscampus is a residential area with a speed limit of 20 km/h. Pedestrians freely make use of the entire road.
- Take possible road works and events into account.
- Within Antwerp, you can make use of the taxi service.
Campus Drie Eiken en Campus Groenenborger have free university parking spots.
Carpooling is not only fun and ecological, but also good for your wallet and you get to meet new people. Are you looking for a car ride or a fellow passenger, occasionally or daily? Take a look at our carpool platform.