For many years he was associated with the University of Silesia in Katowice where he was hired in 1975,[1] obtained doctor's degree in 1980, habilitated doctor’s degree in 1987), academic title of professor (1995) and performed various executive functions (including deputy rector for Student Affairs – 1990-1993).
In academic year 2014/15 he returned to the Institute of East Slavic Philology at the University of Silesia in Katowice.
He is the author of a dozen books on the history of Russian literature, co-author of the academic textbook Historia literatury rosyjskiej XX wieku (History of 20th Century Russian Literature) edited by Andrzej Drawicz and an editor of several dozen of collective works.
[4] He has published over 200 scientific and popular science articles, reviews, translations of scholarly texts and translations of Russian prose and poetry, including Iosif Brodsky, Yevgeny Rein, Nikolay Rubtsov, Yuri Druzhnikov, Ilya Ehrenburg, Alexander Woronski, and Grigory Danilevsky.
[1] Piotr Fast has received the award of the Minister of National Education and has been decorated with Bronze, Silver and Gold Crosses of Merit, KEN Medal, Medal of Alexander Pushkin and the Gold Badge of Merit of the University of Silesia.