diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 795d61e94..1738dc9d6 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -45,11 +45,15 @@ lint:
 	$(VIRTUAL_ENV)/bin/isort --diff -c $(SOURCE_DIRS) ||  EXIT_STATUS=$$?; \
 	$(VIRTUAL_ENV)/bin/flake8 $(SOURCE_DIRS) --exclude migrations,settings ||  EXIT_STATUS=$$?; \
 	npm run lint ||  EXIT_STATUS=$$?; \
+	$(VIRTUAL_ENV)/bin/python manage.py makemigrations --dry-run --check --noinput || EXIT_STATUS=$$?; \
+	exit $${EXIT_STATUS}
 
 .PHONY: lint-quick
 lint-quick:
 	EXIT_STATUS=0; \
 	npm run lint-staged || EXIT_STATUS=$$?; \
+	$(VIRTUAL_ENV)/bin/python manage.py makemigrations --dry-run --check --noinput || EXIT_STATUS=$$?; \
+	exit $${EXIT_STATUS}
 
 .PHONY: lint-python-files
 lint-python-files:
diff --git a/adhocracy4/projects/fields.py b/adhocracy4/projects/fields.py
index e07a3523a..ff3b1beb3 100644
--- a/adhocracy4/projects/fields.py
+++ b/adhocracy4/projects/fields.py
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
-from django.conf import settings
 from multiselectfield import MultiSelectField
 
 
 class TopicField(MultiSelectField):
+    """Deprecated, don't use"""
+
+    # TODO: remove once topic migrations are rolled out
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         kwargs["max_length"] = 254
         kwargs["max_choices"] = 2
@@ -11,11 +13,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 
     def contribute_to_class(self, cls, name, **kwargs):
-        """Initialize the choices from the project's settings if they exist."""
-        if hasattr(settings, "A4_PROJECT_TOPICS"):
-            self.choices = settings.A4_PROJECT_TOPICS
-        else:
-            self.choices = ()
+        self.choices = ()
 
         # Call the super method at last so that choices are already initialized
         super().contribute_to_class(cls, name, **kwargs)
diff --git a/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0042_topic_alter_project_topics_project_m2mtopics.py b/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0042_topic_alter_project_topics_project_m2mtopics.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4a3ffad7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0042_topic_alter_project_topics_project_m2mtopics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2 on 2023-11-29 13:18
+
+import adhocracy4.projects.fields
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("a4projects", "0041_ckeditor5_iframes"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.CreateModel(
+            name="Topic",
+            fields=[
+                (
+                    "id",
+                    models.AutoField(
+                        auto_created=True,
+                        primary_key=True,
+                        serialize=False,
+                        verbose_name="ID",
+                    ),
+                ),
+                ("code", models.CharField(blank=True, max_length=10, unique=True)),
+            ],
+        ),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="project",
+            name="m2mtopics",
+            field=models.ManyToManyField(to="a4projects.topic"),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0043_migrate_topics_to_m2m_topics.py b/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0043_migrate_topics_to_m2m_topics.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..36c8a090c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0043_migrate_topics_to_m2m_topics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2 on 2023-11-29 13:20
+import sys
+import importlib
+
+from django.db import migrations
+from django.conf import settings
+
+
+def add_topics_to_m2m_table(apps, schema_editor):
+    if hasattr(settings, "A4_PROJECT_TOPICS"):
+        project = apps.get_model("a4projects", "Project")
+        topic = apps.get_model("a4projects", "Topic")
+        for project in project.objects.all():
+            for topic_code in project.topics:
+                proj_topic, _ = topic.objects.get_or_create(
+                    code=topic_code,
+                )
+                project.m2mtopics.add(proj_topic)
+    else:
+        pass
+
+
+def reverse_func(apps, schema_editor):
+    if hasattr(settings, "A4_PROJECT_TOPICS"):
+        project = apps.get_model("a4projects", "Project")
+        for project in project.objects.all():
+            for topic in project.m2mtopics.all():
+                project.m2mtopics.remove(topic)
+    else:
+        pass
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("a4projects", "0042_topic_alter_project_topics_project_m2mtopics"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.RunPython(add_topics_to_m2m_table, reverse_func),
+    ]
diff --git a/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0044_remove_project_field_topics.py b/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0044_remove_project_field_topics.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c183a2d36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0044_remove_project_field_topics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2 on 2023-11-29 15:03
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("a4projects", "0043_migrate_topics_to_m2m_topics"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.RemoveField(
+            model_name="project",
+            name="topics",
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0045_rename_field_m2mtopics_to_topics.py b/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0045_rename_field_m2mtopics_to_topics.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1ba59921b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/adhocracy4/projects/migrations/0045_rename_field_m2mtopics_to_topics.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2 on 2023-11-29 15:14
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("a4projects", "0044_remove_project_field_topics"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.RenameField(
+            model_name="project", old_name="m2mtopics", new_name="topics"
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/adhocracy4/projects/models.py b/adhocracy4/projects/models.py
index f227c447c..fa2b3c6fc 100644
--- a/adhocracy4/projects/models.py
+++ b/adhocracy4/projects/models.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from django.urls import reverse
 from django.utils import timezone
 from django.utils.functional import cached_property
+from django.utils.module_loading import import_string
 from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
 from django_ckeditor_5.fields import CKEditor5Field
 from django_enumfield.enum import EnumField
@@ -19,11 +20,20 @@
 from adhocracy4.models import base
 
 from .enums import Access
-from .fields import TopicField
 from .utils import get_module_clusters
 from .utils import get_module_clusters_dict
 
 
+class Topic(models.Model):
+    code = models.CharField(blank=True, max_length=10, unique=True)
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        if hasattr(settings, "A4_PROJECT_TOPICS"):
+            topics_enum = import_string(settings.A4_PROJECT_TOPICS)
+            return str(topics_enum(self.code).label)
+        return self.code
+
+
 class ProjectManager(models.Manager):
     def get_by_natural_key(self, name):
         return self.get(name=name)
@@ -259,9 +269,8 @@ class Project(
             "dashboard."
         ),
     )
-    topics = TopicField(
-        verbose_name=_("Project topics"), help_text=_("Add topics to your project.")
-    )
+    topics = models.ManyToManyField(Topic)
+
     project_type = models.CharField(
         blank=True, max_length=256, default="a4projects.Project"
     )
@@ -321,8 +330,7 @@ def has_moderator(self, user):
     @cached_property
     def topic_names(self):
         if hasattr(settings, "A4_PROJECT_TOPICS"):
-            choices = dict(settings.A4_PROJECT_TOPICS)
-            return [choices[topic] for topic in self.topics]
+            return [str(topic) for topic in self.topics.all()]
         return []
 
     @cached_property
diff --git a/changelog/0007.md b/changelog/0007.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ebd389319
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/0007.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# Changed
+
+- apps/projects:  
+  add topics model/table  
+  make topics a m2m relation to projects  
+  stop making use of django-multiselectfield as it's not maintained  
diff --git a/changelog/0008.md b/changelog/0008.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..440e3ef20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/0008.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Changed
+
+- apps/projects: topics should be first created and then added to project in migration 
diff --git a/changelog/0009.md b/changelog/0009.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f19a8e1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/0009.md
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+### Fixed
+
+- apps/projects: project's topics_name property should iterate through m2m relation
diff --git a/tests/project/enums.py b/tests/project/enums.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2f891b8bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/project/enums.py
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# fmt: off
+
+from django.db import models
+from django.utils.translation import gettext_lazy as _
+
+
+class TopicEnum(models.TextChoices):
+    """Choices for project topics."""
+
+    ANT = "ANT", _("Anti-discrimination"),
+    WOR = "WOR", _("Work & economy"),
+    BUI = "BUI", _("Building & living"),
+    EDU = "EDU", _("Education & research"),
+    CHI = "CHI", _("Children, youth & family"),
+    FIN = "FIN", _("Finances"),
+    HEA = "HEA", _("Health & sports"),
+    INT = "INT", _("Integration"),
+    CUL = "CUL", _("Culture & leisure"),
+    NEI = "NEI", _("Neighborhood & participation"),
+    URB = "URB", _("Urban development"),
+    ENV = "ENV", _("Environment & public green space"),
+    TRA = "TRA", _("Traffic")
diff --git a/tests/project/settings.py b/tests/project/settings.py
index ccd3dbe02..9d0da6ee1 100644
--- a/tests/project/settings.py
+++ b/tests/project/settings.py
@@ -226,11 +226,7 @@
     },
 }
 
-A4_PROJECT_TOPICS = (
-    ("ANT", "Anti-discrimination"),
-    ("WOR", "Work & economy"),
-    ("BUI", "Building & living"),
-)
+A4_PROJECT_TOPICS = "tests.project.enums.TopicEnum"
 
 A4_COMMENT_CATEGORIES = (
     ("QUE", "Question"),