University gives ‘odor’ certificate to academy graduates

ISTANBUL

A Turkish university has included an initiative program on “odor” into its syllabus, promising to give a world certificate to all graduates who want to work in the cosmetic and medicine business.

The name of the program is “Odor Academy,” which was founded in 2019 by the Association of the Culture of Odor and Tourism as a private entrepreneur.

This year, Istanbul’s Bahçeşehir University started an “odor” program on May 21 with the coordination of the academy.

The local and international students will learn the history of odor and perfumes, aromatherapy, marketing, distillation systems and cosmetics in the six-week program conducted by 12 experts. In the applied courses, students will mix different odors and learn how to design a perfume box.

“This academy is the one and only in Turkey and the world,” Bihter Türkan Ergül, the deputy head of the association, told Demirören News Agency on May 23.

Those who qualify from the exam at the end of the program graduate and obtain a certificate translated into six languages. When asked what the certificate would bring, Ergül noted, “The graduates can be odor trainers, consult cosmetics firms or even form their own label.”

“From perfumes to hair sprays, the cosmetics world needs experts,” she added.

The face-to-face program is also provided online. “We have participants from Azerbaijan, Germany, France, the U.S., the U.K. and Brazil,” she expressed.

According to Ergül, attendants not only get theoretical lessons but are also taken to the fields.

The southern province of Isparta, known as the “rose capital” of the country, and the northwestern province of Edirne are two cities the students visit during the program.

“In Isparta, they learn rose growing in rose gardens. The ‘odor and music’ lesson is given in Edirne with applied courses. Participants are taught a 600-year-old healing technique with music and smell.”