The Verschuren Centre (VC) is a Canadian applied research and innovation centre that develops and scales sustainable solutions, connects clean tech innovation to industry, and accelerates decarbonisation at all levels for a net-zero future.
Based in Sydney, Nova Scotia, its mission is to accelerate pathways towards a sustainable circular economy by providing a shared facility environment, technical expertise, and commercialisation support to clients.
By working with its highly qualified team and cutting-edge shared-use facility, small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can advance their IP to commercial-scale while connecting with the VC’s network of partners locally, nationally and globally.
Collaborative innovation to help businesses advance their circular economy goals
The Verschuren Centre positions itself as a collaborative “innovation bridge” for clients by offering:
- Technical expertise: The centre houses multidisciplinary scientific and engineering staff who can meet tailored technical needs (e.g. in bioprocessing, materials, energy systems).
- Shared-use infrastructure: The VC maintains pilot-scale facilities, analytic and testing laboratories, and scale-up capabilities, providing capital-efficient access to infrastructure that individual clients might not afford.
- Ecosystem connections: Through partnerships locally, nationally, and globally, the VC helps clients embed in networks, access markets, and find collaborators.
Research and capability areas
The Verschuren Centre divides its technical work into several thematic teams or domains. These are areas in which they provide lab-to-pilot development, scale-up, testing, and technology translation services.
Key research and capability areas include:
- Bio-manufacturing: The VC supports upstream and downstream operations (fermentation, process development, scale-up, recovery and characterisation) to help clients validate and derisk their biotechnologies as they move toward pilot/commercial scale.
- Bio-resources: This area focuses on valorising underused biological resources using greener production and separation processes. The aim is to enable circular economy approaches, converting waste or low-value streams into higher‐value products.
- Bio-agriculture: The Centre assists clients in developing sustainable agricultural innovations, using plant growth facilities, analytics, and scale-appropriate solutions to improve crop yield, optimise agronomic traits, or test novel inputs.
- Energy systems: Clients are provided with system-level modelling for decarbonisation pathways, net-zero planning, and the scale-up of clean thermal technologies aimed at industrial processes.
- Carbon transformation: This area focuses on converting carbon-based feedstocks into new sustainable materials or biofuels. The VC’s laboratories also provide advanced characterisation to help clients improve process performance and materials quality.
- Bio-polymers: This area works on greener alternatives to plastics and packaging, including recycling, upcycling, and new material development.
- Aquaculture: Given their Nova Scotia location, the centre also pursues marine/aquaculture research. For example, they have projects geared toward mitigating disease in oysters (MSX disease), deploying detection tools, and water remediation using organic extractives.
Each of these areas can draw on combined capabilities to support clients from the lab bench through pilot trials. By doing so, the centre helps de-risk technology development, shortens the time to market, and facilitates the transfer of innovations into industrial or commercial settings.
