Grasse Institute of Perfumery: Courses and History

The heritage of perfume-related knowledge and skills in the Pays de Grasse remains the DNA of our school.
Alain Ferro, GIP Director (2019; translated from French)

Where does a drop in a bottle of fragrance material come from? From people who grow plants, harvest them, extract their scent, and finally from perfumers who combine different materials. Grasse Institute of Perfumery (GIP) is a specialist educational institution in Grasse that brings this chain of work into its teaching.

Alongside its long-term international program, it offers short courses for beginners and corporate training. Unlike an in-house school that trains only people recruited by a company, it provides entry points for outside learners. However, a few days of introductory study and 18 months of training in perfumery and evaluation differ in scope, selection, and the certificates awarded on completion.

Essential Information
A School Born from the Fragrance Industry of Grasse
1. From ASFO in 1972 to International Education in 2002
2. Practical Facilities and Teachers from Industry
From Learning Materials to Creation and Evaluation
The Long-Term International Program: Study and Admission
Short Courses and Entry Points in Japan
1. Beginner Courses in Grasse
2. GIP Tokyo’s Japanese-Language Program
Key Milestones
References

Essential Information

Official name: Grasse Institute of Perfumery (GIP)
Established: 2002
Founder: Prodarom, the trade association representing French fragrance-material manufacturers
Operation: ASFO Grasse’s international perfumery education, based in Grasse, France
Forms of study: A selective long-term international program, short courses, and customized training for individuals and companies
Official website: Grasse Institute of Perfumery

A School Born from the Fragrance Industry of Grasse

From ASFO in 1972 to International Education in 2002

Behind GIP is a system through which the fragrance industry trains its own workforce. Prodarom established ASFO Grasse in 1972 to educate people working, or preparing to work, in perfume, flavor, cosmetics, and fine-chemical companies. Analysis, manufacturing, extraction, and laboratory techniques are also forms of work that support fragrance creation.

Founded in 2002, GIP extended that foundation into international perfumery education. Passing on the region’s accumulated knowledge and skills to learners from around the world was central to its establishment. ASFO’s technician training and GIP’s perfumery and evaluation programs are closely related, but each program’s intended participants and certificates should be understood separately.

The heritage passed down in Grasse is not limited to composing perfumes. Growing perfume plants, understanding and processing natural materials, and composing fragrances are interconnected skills. This perfume-related knowledge and expertise of the Pays de Grasse, encompassing all three areas, was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage in 2018. Visits to fields and factories at GIP are therefore not simply about admiring flowers, but about understanding the conditions in which fragrance materials are produced.

Practical Facilities and Teachers from Industry

The school has laboratories for perfumery, cosmetics, flavors, and chemistry, together with teaching materials for comparing natural and synthetic fragrance materials and perfumes. In September 2025, a new site of approximately 200 square meters opened at 10 Boulevard du Jeu de Ballon in central Grasse. It provides additional space for technical training, professional workshops, and international courses, expanding the school’s classroom and practical teaching facilities.

Its teachers also reflect the school’s close ties to industry. Current instructor profiles list Marianne Nawrocki for natural and synthetic materials, Anne Cécile Douvegheant of Argeville for fragrance evaluation and perfume genealogy, and Elisabeth Proal for natural materials and regulation. Learning materials, evaluating products, and considering conditions of use are part of the same educational framework.

Companies sponsor each year’s class. At Parfex, the sponsor of the 2025 class, students visited the facilities and met perfumers and marketing staff. Seeing creation and production firsthand gave them an opportunity to compare classroom knowledge with market requirements. This sponsorship does not turn the course into one company’s recruitment or internal training program, nor does it promise employment for every student.

From Learning Materials to Creation and Evaluation

Turning Olfactory Training into the Ability to Build a Fragrance

the education starts with training your nose
Jordan Sarica, Class of 2019 graduate

Sarica’s words succinctly describe the starting point of perfume making: recognizing raw-material odors, acquiring a vocabulary for scent, and creating accords by combining several materials. An accord is a cohesive scent produced by several fragrance ingredients working together. Learners move from describing the impression of a favorite perfume to understanding its structure and building one themselves.

Even the short summer school teaches natural and synthetic materials and the creation of accords such as rose and jasmine. Alongside perfume history and genealogy, it introduces the volatility and solubility of fragrance molecules. Study at GIP is not limited to blending natural ingredients. It builds a foundation for understanding both flower-derived and synthetic materials and using each in a composition.

Some graduates return as teachers. Marie Elshina (Molchanova), who teaches the beginner course Discovery of Perfumery, is a GIP-trained perfumer introduced under the name MAYME. Sarica also appears among the current instructors. Those who have learned at the school pass on their approach to materials and creation to the next learners.

Seeing Narcissus Harvesting and Extraction

A concrete example of learning outside the classroom is the study trip to Aubrac on May 15–17, 2023. With support from IFF, students visited a narcissus-growing area in Lozère. Flowers blooming for a short season on the plateau are harvested with a large, wheeled, comb-like tool. Students see how this method removes only the flowers without damaging the plants.

They then visited SADEV’s factory and extraction facilities to learn how harvested flowers are processed into an absolute, a concentrated fragrance material used in perfumery. Lessons that begin with opening a bottle and learning a material connect here with the land where the flowers grow, the timing of the harvest, and the work of those who process them. The trip took place in 2023; the school’s report was published in March 2024.

A Creative Assignment on the Supply of Natural Materials

For the 2019 class, sponsor Symrise set an assignment on natural materials at risk. Working in pairs, students researched materials such as sandalwood, analyzing cultivation areas, harvesting, processing, and supply difficulties. They connected this understanding with a perfume concept and formula, considering alternatives that would preserve the fragrance if a material became scarce.

The assignment also covered regulatory compliance, formula cost, and evaluation of whether the fragrance matched its concept. It illustrates how valuing natural materials can go beyond words of admiration and inform sourcing and formulation choices.

Jérôme Epinette is identified as a GIP graduate by his employer, Robertet. The company cites Assouline’s Travel From Home candle collection among his work. Graduates’ activities extend beyond the perfume bottle into home fragrances that express places through scent.

The Long-Term International Program: Study and Admission

The International Technical Degree in Fragrance Creation and Sensory Evaluation is an international program in fragrance creation and evaluation. It lasts 18 months: study at the school from January through December, followed by a six-month internship in the fragrance industry. Placements may be located around the world. Teaching is in English, with a class size of 12.

The 1,200 hours of school-based education comprise 600 hours taught by perfumers and specialists and 600 hours of supervised practical work and visits to factories, laboratories, and raw-material producers. In addition to perfumery and evaluation, it covers analysis, regulation, and fragrance applications in products such as shampoo. Those who pass the examinations receive a professional certificate recognized by Prodarom. Although the program name includes “Degree,” the award certifies completion of this professional education; it should not be treated as a university degree or a perfumer’s license.

Applicants must hold at least a bachelor’s-level qualification. A master’s in science or marketing, or experience in the fragrance industry, is taken into account in selection. The selection policy also identifies ages 25–35 as the ideal age range for training. Applicants submit a CV and motivation letter in English, followed, after application screening, by selection involving numeracy and logic, creativity, identification of fragrance materials, and an interview.

The official long-term program page checked on October 12, 2026, lists an application window of January 1–July 1, 2025, for the following year’s program. This application period for 2026 entry has ended. The listed tuition fee is €13,500, with a €150 selection examination fee. These cannot be read as the admission conditions for 2027. The next intake year, fees, and application period must be confirmed with the contact listed on that page.

Short Courses and Entry Points in Japan

Beginner Courses in Grasse

For an introduction to materials and practical work before a long period of study abroad, options include Discovery of Perfumery and Fragrance Summer School – Level 1. Both are beginner courses taught in English. Those with experience are asked to consult the school before registering.

Course	Conditions listed on the 2026 schedule pages	What students learn
Discovery of Perfumery	3 days, 9:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m. / 12 participants / €1,200	45 raw materials, olfactory vocabulary, and first accord creations
Fragrance Summer School – Level 1	2 weeks, weekdays 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. / 10 participants / €2,400	Raw materials, fragrance chemistry, accords, and perfume evaluation and composition. A botanical garden visit depending on season and weather

The information was checked on October 12, 2026. All 2026 dates displayed on both pages had already passed and cannot be carried over to the following year. The fees above are the listed tuition fees including tax and lunch, not total costs including accommodation. GIP’s terms require participants to be at least 18, and places on short courses are allocated in registration order. A certificate of participation after a course should also be distinguished from the professional education certificate awarded on the basis of examinations in the long-term program.

GIP Tokyo’s Japanese-Language Program

GIP’s history records its first courses in Japan in 2006. Today, GIP Tokyo’s certified program is advertised with Kenji Maruyama as chief instructor and Natalia Nyaradi, who studied at GIP in 2022, as founding director. The Tokyo venue is Kanemo Kobo Open Lab in Shinanomachi, Shinjuku.

The 2026–2027 Professional Perfumery Training Program comprises four levels of five days each. Levels 1–3 take place in Tokyo and Level 4 in Grasse, all taught in Japanese. Between levels, participants undertake independent study using material kits and assignments. Level 1 is scheduled for November 21–23 and 28–29, 2026; Levels 2 and 3 for January and March 2027; and Level 4 for May 3–7, 2027.

As listed on October 12, 2026, tuition is €2,400 each for Levels 1–3 and €2,700 for Level 4, paid directly to GIP in France. Applicants taking all levels receive priority, and Level 4 is open to those who have completed Levels 1–3 in Tokyo. Travel and accommodation are at the participant’s expense. GIP issues a completion certificate for each level, but this four-stage program is separate from the 18-month international program in Grasse.

A Japanese-language Discovery Course is also offered, listed as two days for ten participants at €1,200, including a GIP certificate. Its next dates are shown as being arranged. Taking this introduction is not a requirement for applying to the Professional Perfumery Training Program. Since course lengths and arrangements differ by country and program, those wishing to study in Japanese should start with GIP Tokyo’s information.

Key Milestones

1972: Prodarom establishes ASFO Grasse to develop vocational education supporting the fragrance, cosmetics, and related industries.
2002: GIP is established, beginning perfumery education that shares Grasse’s fragrance knowledge and skills internationally.
2003: The first short course, the summer school, is held.
2006: The first courses in Japan take place.
2013: The perfumery and evaluation class undertakes its first overseas study trip.
2018: Perfume-related knowledge and skills in the Pays de Grasse are inscribed on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
2019: Symrise sponsors the class, which undertakes an assignment connecting the supply of natural materials with creation.
2020: The first online courses open.
May 2023: A study trip to Aubrac, supported by IFF, explores narcissus harvesting and extraction.
2025: Parfex sponsors the class. A new site opens in central Grasse in September.
2026–2027 academic year: GIP Tokyo advertises a four-level professional program in Japanese. The first level is scheduled for November 2026 and the final level in Grasse for May 2027.

Grasse Institute of Perfumery (GIP): History, Perfumery Education, Courses, and Admission