In addition to FAST core courses which are taught as part of the Translation Department curriculum, and courses relevant to United States, British, Canadian, Irish or Finnish language, culture, or literature from other departments of Tampere University (or other institutions in Finland or abroad) which may be used toward FAST requirements, registered FAST degree students may also earn FAST credits via Independent Projects with one or more English Section teachers.

Such projects allow students the flexibility to pursue areas of interest which are not directly covered in basic FAST courses, and also provide flexibility beyond the number of courses which can be scheduled each term as part of the department curriculum.

To qualify for an Independent Project, students must have been accepted as a registered FAST minor degree student. Students must also secure the permission of one or more qualified instructors to guide and grade the Project. Please note that Independent Projects are not available to international students.

Independent Projects may be done either under the basic FAST course codes during academic terms when the course is not being offered or under a separate 'Independent Projects' code if the Project is on a topic not directly treated by the relevant FAST course. If the project is for a basic FAST course in lieu of the 'taught course', credit will be entered under the regular course coding. For topics not covered by a regular FAST course, credit will appear in the official university register as TRENAK18 (IP-USA/BIE/CAN/FIN).

Projects would normally consist of guided research papers worth 4-6 ETCS credits on topics relevant to the language, literature, or culture of the United States, Britain, Canada, Ireland or Finland. Projects may be done on topics concerning only one national area, under the supervision of a single instructor, or topics comparing aspects of two or more national cultures, under the supervision of instructors who are competent in all the areas concerned. Credit will be given by the Department of Translation Studies for the FAST minor option.

Students wishing to do an Independent Project should consult the English Section instructor(s) who are responsible for the general field of the topic. The student should outline a draft plan and submit to the instructor(s) a Paper Proposal Form for the project. If the plan is accepted, the student would then proceed with the project, subject to guidance and final acceptance and evaluation by the instructor(s). Please note that the supervision of Independent Projects would be in addition to an instructor's regular workload, and as such there is no guarantee that instructor(s) will be able to accommodate extra Independent Project supervision during a given academic term.

Please also see the FAST G-1 Visiting Lecture Series, which is another independent study option.