Your typical college chemistry class is about following instructions and running lab tests, not actually experimenting with materials. But Chemistry 3100 is not your typical chemistry class.

Northeastern University’s new upper-level chemistry elective allows students to learn the chemical composition and structure of personal care products and then gives them the opportunity to develop their own.

“It really has been so interdisciplinary,” said Jillian Zerkowski, a fourth-year biochemistry major. “We got a comprehensive overview of what product forms exist and then we transitioned into products that we want to make and what there’s need for. It’s been really exciting to get to do that.”

The course originated from student interest. Leila Deravi, associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology, started a skin care company called Seaspire, inspired by her research on color change and cephalopods. Since founding Seaspire in 2019, Deravi said she’s received multiple emails a semester from students also interested in making their own cosmetics and learning the chemistry to do so. So she proposed an upper-level chemistry elective exploring the process of developing these products.

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Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University