There are hobby projects that I would like to do deep research into in my free time and perhaps try to put to use somehow. At the same time, since the fields of my interests change every couple of years, I don’t want to start a whole university programme for each of these deep dives. Nonetheless, I would still benefit from academic support/guidance, and I would like to be able to have some kind of final piece of work to show for all my effort.

(currently I’m deep diving into techniques of recycling plastic and trying to invent realistic ways to promote their use in society)

I’m currently doing my bachelors in which the system constrains me to one narrow field. What would be the best way to formalize my curiosity-driven deep dives (ie. Special Interests) so that they aren’t just private word documents and thoughts in my head? Does the academic system have any provisions for people like me?