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Best Science PowerPoint Templates and Slide Design Examples

Professional powerpoint templates and slide design examples for science talks, academic conferences, and graduate thesis presentations..

Most presentation templates are too cheesy for research talks. Scientists need slides that allow for quick customization and that make it easy to illustrate all the key points of a research project. This article shows well-designed scientific presentation slide examples and also links to fully customizable professional templates. 

Download Science PowerPoint Templates

Whether you are creating a research presentation for the first time or have years of experience, the PowerPoint templates linked below have user-friendly slides that quickly allow you to create science talks that will engage your audience and make your main points clear.

Scientific Presentation Slide Design Examples

My top recommendation for creating effective technical presentations is to use simple slide designs and a recurring theme for the main points that allow your audience to easily follow your data story. The sections below show scientific slide design examples to help you clearly show your results.

Title Slides

The best title slide designs for scientific talks have an easy-to-understand title and an engaging image. The title slide is the first impression for your audience and is most effective when you remove excess technical terms. The title text should be much more simplified than your scientific publication. The examples below show two versions of title slides from the templates, one with a dark background and one with a light background.

Science Background Slides

After title slides, the next part of your presentation should use background slides that show both the scientific concepts and also includes slides that engage the audience with the high-level purpose of your research or related entertaining images. Don't be afraid to connect to your audience with a joke or something personal about your role in the research.

Make a Connection to a Shared Purpose

The slide to the right shows an example of how to present the higher-level purpose of your research. Consider asking your audience "why is this important" and then show the relevance of the data to to medical treatments or fundamental science questions.

Use Illustrations to Explain Scientific Concepts and Methods

Another great way to maintain audience engagement for background information is to use slide designs that incorporate illustrations and use very little text. Most people do not read slides, so illustrated images go a long way to improve audience comprehension. Explore free online courses to learn how to incorporate illustrations and images into your scientific presentations.

Main Point Slides

After presenting background information, it is important to create a series of slides that show the main point(s) of your research. Good main point slide designs use a consistent theme and do not overload each slide with too many details.

One design tip to keep your data-focused slides simple is to limit the presentation to only one to two core concepts per slide. The examples shown here illustrate how to edit the science PowerPoint template slides to create effective research slide designs with simple concepts and minimal text.

Take Home Message Slide

Good scientific presentations also include a take home message slide that clearly summarizes the one idea that you want people to remember or to take action on after your talk.

This slide should have a unique design that stands out from the rest of the slides to let your audience know that this is essential information.

Acknowledgement Slides

Finally, your talk should end with a thoughtful acknowledgement slide that matches the overall presentation theme. Make sure to include all of your collaborators and make it easy to read.

Science Talk Design Tips Summary

Good visual design is an essential part of creating effective research presentations and below is a summary of the slide design tips provided in this article. To further your science communication training, you can also consider signing up for free online courses to expand your scientific illustration and data visualization skills.

• Title: Create a slide with an easy-to-understand title and an engaging image.
• Background: Engage your audience with information that shows the "why" behind your work and use illustrations to make your scientific methods clear.
• Main Points: Limit the information shown on each slide and use a consistent design theme.
• Take Home Message: Use a slide design that is unique and catches the audience attention to present the primary message that you want your audience to remember after the talk. 
• Acknowledgement: Include an acknowledgement slide that thanks your collaborators and matches the overall design theme.

Create professional science figures with illustration services or use the online courses and templates to quickly learn how to make your own designs.

Interested in free design templates and training.

Explore scientific illustration templates and courses by creating a Simplified Science Publishing Log In. Whether you are new to data visualization design or have some experience, these resources will improve your ability to use both basic and advanced design tools.

Interested in reading more articles on scientific design? Learn more below:

Scientific Presentation Guide: How to Create an Engaging Research Talk

Data Storytelling Techniques: How to Tell a Great Data Story in 4 Steps

Free Research Poster Templates and Tutorials

Content is protected by Copyright license. Website visitors are welcome to share images and articles, however they must include the Simplified Science Publishing URL source link when shared. Thank you!

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How to structure your viva presentation (with examples)

Most PhD vivas and PhD defences start with a short presentation by the candidate. The structure of these presentations is very important! There are several factors and approaches to consider when developing your viva presentation structure.

Factors to consider when developing a viva presentation structure

Structuring your viva presentation traditionally, structuring your viva presentation around key findings, structuring your viva presentation around key arguments, structuring your viva presentation around case studies, final thoughts on viva presentation structures.

A PhD viva or PhD defence is often one of the last steps that PhD students have to pass before receiving a doctorate. The viva or defence usually starts with a short presentation of the PhD candidate on the PhD thesis.

Presenting a whole PhD in a short amount of time is very challenging. After all, a PhD is often the result of several years of work!

It is simply impossible to include everything in a viva presentation.

Therefore, tough choices have to be made in terms of what to include, what to highlight, and what to exclude.

The structure of a viva presentation plays a crucial role in bringing across the key messages of your PhD.

Therefore, there are several factors to consider when developing a viva presentation structure:

• Available presentation time : Viva presentations usually last between 10 and 20 minutes, but every university has different regulations. Developing a structure for a viva presentation that lasts 10 minutes is different from developing one for a presentation that lasts 20 minutes or more. Thus, find out how much time you are allowed to present!
• The key contribution of your thesis: The structure of a viva presentation should reflect the content and key messages of the PhD thesis. For instance, if you have written a very theoretical PhD thesis, it makes no sense to structure your whole presentation around your data collection and analysis. Make sure that the viva presentation structure is in line with your main messages.
• University standards: It is recommended to discuss your ideas and plans for your viva presentation structure with others, as each university may have may be different (and even unspoken) rules and standards. Ask your supervisors about their preferred viva presentation structure. And talk to your peers who defend their theses before you.
• Clear storyline : Every presentation should have a logical structure which allows the audience to follow a crystal-clear storyline. This is also true for viva presentations. Thus, clarify your storyline and develop a presentation structure that supports it.

A very traditional viva presentation structure simply follows the structure of the PhD thesis.

This means that the viva presentation covers all parts of the thesis, including an introduction, the literature review, the methodology, results, conclusions, etcetera.

The advantage of this rather traditional format is that it provides information on each thesis chapter. Furthermore, it is relatively easy to prepare.

The disadvantage of this traditional format is that it is very challenging to fit all the information in a – let’s say – 10-minute presentation.

Furthermore, it can result in a presentation that is quite boring for the examiners, who have read the thesis in preparation for the viva.

One interesting way is to structure a viva presentation around the key findings of the PhD research.

For instance, you can select your three main findings which you each connect to the existing literature, your unique research approach and your (new) empirical insights.

A viva presentation structure around key findings emphasises the unique contribution of a PhD thesis, particularly in empirical terms.

A challenge of this structure, however, is to narrow down the presentation to a handful of key findings.

Furthermore, it might be tricky to find enough time during the presentation to discuss your theoretical framework and embed your discussion in the existing literature when addressing complex issues.

A viva presentation structured around key arguments is very similar to one that is structured around key findings. However, while key findings place more emphasis on the empirical data, key arguments operate at a higher level:

Arguments are sets of reasons supporting an idea, which – in academia – often integrate theoretical and empirical insights.

So, for example, your key argument 1 is your stance on an issue, combining your theoretical and empirical understanding of it. You use the existing theory to understand your empirical data, and your empirical data analysis to develop your theoretical understanding.

A viva presentation structure around key arguments is probably the most difficult viva presentation structure to choose.

However, if it is well done, it is probably the most academically strong and advanced way of defending your PhD.

Another common way to structure a viva presentation is around case studies or study contexts.

This structure is only applicable when the PhD thesis includes a comparative (case study) analysis, which is quite common in the social sciences and humanities.

A presentation can, for instance, first discuss the theoretical framework and research approach, then present Case 1, and then Case 2 or more if applicable.

A viva presentation structure around case studies can be easy to follow for the audience, and shed light on the similarities and differences of cases.

However, as always, you need to reflect on whether the structure supports your key message. If your key message does not centre around similarities and/or differences in cases, this is not the structure for you!

Every PhD thesis is unique, and therefore also every viva presentation structure should be unique.

The key to a good viva presentation is to choose a structure which reflects the key points of your PhD thesis that you want to convey to the examiners.

The example viva presentation structures discussed here intend to showcase variety and possibilities and to provide inspiration.

Never just copy a viva presentation structure that worked for others .

Always think about what fits best to your thesis, asking yourself the following questions:

• What is the main message of my PhD that I want to share during my viva?
• How do I develop a crystal clear storyline to bring this main message across?
• How can I structure my viva presentation to support and facilitate this storyline?

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