The Grasse Institute of Perfumery's long-term course is the International Technical Degree in Fragrance Creation and Sensory Evaluation: 18 months (January to December at the Grasse centre plus a six-month internship), 1,200 training hours, 12 places, taught in English, with a professional certificate validated by Prodarom. Your first assessment is admission: a half-day of tests covering calculation and logic, creativity around a fragrance, two sets of ten raw materials for olfactory recognition, and an interview. Prepare those components, a two-page cover letter in English, and confirm current application dates directly with GIP.
The programme and the certificate GIP awards
The Grasse Institute of Perfumery's long-term course is the International Technical Degree in Fragrance Creation and Sensory Evaluation, an 18-month professional certificate validated by Prodarom, the French fragrance industry trade union. It runs January to December at the Grasse centre, followed by a six-month internship in the fragrance industry anywhere in the world.
GIP’s official course title is International Technical Degree in Fragrance Creation and Sensory Evaluation. The admission tests select candidates for the course; the final examination comes after training and leads to the professional certificate.
The scale is small and intensive. GIP limits the course to 12 students chosen for creativity and olfactory talent, and the working language is English. Of the 1,200 training hours, 600 are given by accredited creative perfumers or technical experts; the remaining 600 are supervised practical work and visits to factories, laboratories and growers of jasmine, roses, lavender and mimosas.
The page says the certificate goes to people who successfully complete the exam, but it publishes no exam format, question count or pass mark for that final stage. Treat any third-party description of the final exam as unverified and ask the institute directly.
Entry profile and how to apply
The institute selects a small cohort and considers education, experience and application materials. Its published entry profile lists a Bachelor’s degree as the minimum and prefers relevant Master’s degrees.
You apply by email in English with a detailed curriculum and a cover letter of at least two pages. GIP says it takes about four weeks to confirm whether your profile matches the programme before eligible candidates are invited to tests.
GIP says many applicants have fragrance-industry experience and describes ages 25–35 as its preferred range. It does not state that this is a strict age limit. Confirm how your qualifications and background fit the current intake before making plans.
One timing warning: the official page states that applications for the following year's course were accepted between January 1 and July 1, 2025. That window is historical and closed. The page does not confirm dates for the next intake, so verify the current deadline with GIP before you plan anything.
What the half-day admission assessment involves
The published admission assessment combines calculation and logic, creativity, raw-material recognition and an interview. It is separate from the final course exam.
For tests taken outside Grasse, the published process adds a videoconference interview with the teaching team. Confirm the currently available locations and decision timetable with GIP when invited; the page’s dated application window is historical.
| Component | Format stated by the institute |
|---|---|
| Calculation and logic test | One hour |
| Creativity test | One hour, around a fragrance |
| Olfactory recognition | Two tests — two sets of ten raw materials |
| Interview | With a perfumer and/or members of the teaching team |
What the 18-month curriculum covers
GIP frames the course as linking traditional and modern techniques: raw materials first, then the language of perfumery, accords and blending, and finally full creation and evaluation. Supporting disciplines cover regulation, instrumental analysis and functional applications.
Treat the map below as a preparation priority list rather than a task-by-task syllabus: the official page publishes no assessment weights or task breakdown, so cover every area rather than chasing unofficial percentages.
- Raw materials and olfaction: natural and synthetic materials and how to use them correctly, including the natural materials Grasse is renowned for
- Language and classification: the vocabulary of perfume, the major fragrance groups and subgroups, and the genealogy and evaluation of leading perfumes
- Accords and blending: recognising accords, creating them, and the structure of a perfume — what GIP calls the essence of the art of composition
- Creation: the modern creation process, creation by olfactory imitation, and the tools used to analyse perfume constituents
- Supporting disciplines: international fragrance and cosmetic regulations, gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, toiletries applications such as shampoos, shower gels and creams, and perfume marketing
- Experiential learning: site visits, one trip abroad during the year, a fragrance development project, and the six-month internship
Preparing for the recognition and creativity tests
Keep a description notebook and practise expressing your observations clearly in English. This can support preparation, but identifying raw materials requires more than recognizing familiar finished products.
As a study suggestion, describe familiar products you already use as intended. Record the name, date, descriptive vocabulary and one comparison with another familiar scent. Revisit your notes and try to explain the difference without relying only on labels. This vocabulary exercise is not a substitute for instruction in identifying the natural and synthetic materials assessed by GIP.
For creativity and interview preparation, write a short account of a fragrance you know: the impression it gives you, the audience or situation you associate with it, and how you would explain that impression to someone else. Compare your words with an established reference vocabulary.
The course page does not provide a detailed scoring rubric or a list of admission-test materials. Ask GIP what preparation resources it recommends, and use the published assessment components to organize your study.
- Prepare to explain, in English, why you want to work in perfumery
- Know your own cover letter thoroughly; it is the written record the teaching team holds
- Prepare questions about the course, the internship and the teaching team
A calculation and logic practice drill
Practise proportional reasoning with clearly stated quantities and units. The following is an original exercise for the published calculation-and-logic area; it is not a GIP exam item.
Work it before revealing the answer, and check each part independently — the two questions test different part-whole relationships.
Practice drill
A workshop packs 240 identical sample cards equally into 8 boxes. An event needs 75 cards. What is the minimum number of unopened boxes needed, and how many cards will be left after the event?
Show answer
Three boxes are needed, leaving 15 cards.
Each box contains 240 ÷ 8 = 30 cards. Two boxes contain only 60, while three contain 90. The minimum is therefore three whole boxes, with 90 − 75 = 15 cards left. Round the number of boxes up because the problem requires unopened boxes.
Costs, contact and next steps
The enrollment fee is €13,500, and the admission test costs €150 separately. The official page does not state what the enrollment fee includes, so confirm accommodation, materials and travel costs with the institute before you budget.
Confirm current deadlines, test locations and what the fees cover through the contact details on GIP’s official course page. Prepare your English application materials and questions about the teaching, internship and admission process.
- Confirm the current application window with GIP; the January–July 2025 window on the page is historical
- Draft your two-page minimum cover letter in English and refresh your curriculum
- Record your highest qualification and any fragrance-industry experience, since preselection weighs both
- Budget for the €150 admission test and the €13,500 enrollment fee, and ask what the fee includes
- If travelling to Grasse is difficult, check which test locations are currently offered and expect the extra video interview
Sources
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