New educational programs for training specialists in the field of technology of perfumes and cosmetics and the development of phytocosmetics are being opened at Vyatka State University.
The graduates of the programs will help solve the problem of creating new ingredients for domestic organic cosmetics, the press service of the university told RIA Novosti.
Today, in the context of sanctions, the issue of strengthening the competitiveness of the Russian perfumery and cosmetics industry is particularly acute. According to experts, for this it is necessary to provide the industry with Russian-made cosmetic ingredients.
The creation of ingredients for cosmetics of natural origin goes through many stages, starting with the cultivation of basic plant or animal raw materials, and ending with its deep processing, including modern biotechnological methods. And the innovativeness of perfumery and cosmetic products as a whole depends on the development of new ingredients.
To solve this problem, it is especially important to provide the perfumery and cosmetics industry with highly qualified specialists. Today, there is a shortage of personnel in the industry at all stages of product development, and the problem is most acute in small businesses. At the same time, there is no systematic training of personnel for the entire production cycle.
As part of the participation in the Priority 2030 program, Vyatka State University will for the first time enroll students in the bachelor's program in the direction 06.03.01 Biology, the profile "Technology of perfumes and cosmetics" and in the master's program - 06.04.01 Biology, the profile "Development of phytocosmetics". Graduates of these programs will study in depth the composition of plants, the biotechnology of deep processing of raw materials to obtain ingredients and the study of their use in cosmetics and perfumery. The uniqueness of these programs is that they are open within the framework of the biological direction.
The university will train specialists in the field of natural and organic cosmetics, who will study the whole range of sources of natural plant raw materials and will be able to create innovative recipes based on spicy-aromatic and essential oil compounds. This will help increase the range of science-based modern natural cosmetics.
The use of not only cultivated and wild plants, but also obtained by micropropagation and cellular technologies, will allow specialists to use valuable substances of rare and protected species as ingredients in the creation of innovative phytocosmetics.
MiKo LLC has been operating on the market for 13 years and was one of the first among Russian manufacturers to produce natural cosmetics, said Ekaterina Matantseva, General Director of the company.
- Every year we experience a shortage of staff, as the market for organic and natural cosmetics is growing by more than 20 percent per year. We annually recruit 5-6 employees in the department of the chief technologist and in the production department for the position of a cooker of cosmetics and a technologist. These specialists, in addition to knowledge of general chemistry, must know the features of technological processes and the operation of raw materials in different media and temperatures, the interaction of components with each other, - she said.
Ekaterina Matantseva noted that the company has to train an employee for three months before allowing him to the production process, and they need highly qualified specialists for the production of cosmetics.
- The specialty will be of interest to students and specialists will be in great demand in our region. We are ready to help in the educational process, provide places for practice and annually make a guaranteed order of specialists for our company, - she added.
The new programs are unique in that students will master the full cycle of production of cosmetics, from growing (cultivating) raw materials to obtaining finished products, and will be able to develop cosmetics of natural origin.
So far, Russian universities have not trained specialists in the field of development and production of cosmetic products based on plant, animal and cellular components and their quality control (including according to international standards).
Students who complete the program will acquire competencies in areas such as searching in the natural environment or growing plant materials (including advanced methods of in vitro micropropagation); deep processing of vegetable raw materials to obtain natural ingredients; development of new formulations of cosmetics; the effect of the product on the skin, evaluation of possible side effects; organization of production of cosmetics in compliance with international quality standards.
The interdisciplinary training program covers the fields of botany, physical and chemical methods of analysis, biotechnology, microbiology, physiology, etc.
The REC "Botanical Garden" of Vyatka State University will become a platform for developing technologies for growing raw materials, and students will be able to master the technologies of processing, studying the biochemical composition and obtaining ready-made cosmetics on the basis of laboratories of the Institute of Biology and Biotechnology, equipped with the most modern equipment.
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