diff --git a/.github/workflows/cicd.yaml b/.github/workflows/cicd.yaml
index f58b551..10114bd 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cicd.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cicd.yaml
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ jobs:
           - "3.9"
           - "3.10"
           - "3.11"
+          - "3.12"
+          - "3.13"
           - "pypy-3.9"
+          - "pypy-3.10"
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
     - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f7a5122..1c0dcf1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -55,3 +55,4 @@ notebooks/
 
 # project artefacts
 test_project
+.python-version
diff --git a/tests/test.sh b/tests/test.sh
index 7f73ab4..2444804 100755
--- a/tests/test.sh
+++ b/tests/test.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 # * The documentation builds
 # * The test_reminder test fails as expected
 # * All other tests pass
+# * The main.py script executes successfully
 
 set -xe
 
@@ -25,9 +26,15 @@ echo "✅ Cookiecutter executes successfully."
 
 cd test_project/my_project
 
+poetry install
+
 git add .
 poetry run pre-commit run --all-files
-echo "✓ Commit hooks installed and working."
+echo "✅ Commit hooks installed and working."
+
+# check that we can run the project
+poetry run python -m my_project.main
+echo "✅ main.py script executes successfully."
 
 # check that the documentation builds without warnings
 make docs
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/.github/workflows/cicd.yaml b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/.github/workflows/cicd.yaml
index a650276..f208bf9 100644
--- a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/.github/workflows/cicd.yaml	
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/.github/workflows/cicd.yaml	
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ jobs:
           - "3.9"
           - "3.10"
           - "3.11"
+          - "3.12"
+          - "3.13"
         platform: [ubuntu-latest]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.platform }}
     steps:
@@ -37,7 +39,10 @@ jobs:
           - "3.9"
           - "3.10"
           - "3.11"
+          - "3.12"
+          - "3.13"
           - "pypy-3.9"
+          - "pypy-3.10"
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
@@ -80,7 +85,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v4
         with:
-          python-version: "3.10"
+          python-version: "3.13"
       - name: Install poetry
         run: |
           curl -sSL https://install.python-poetry.org | python3 -
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index a651077..68892a2 100644
--- a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/.pre-commit-config.yaml	
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/.pre-commit-config.yaml	
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 minimum_pre_commit_version: "3.0"
 repos:
-- repo: https://github.com/charliermarsh/ruff-pre-commit
+- repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
   # Ruff version.
-  rev: 'v0.0.256'
+  rev: 'v0.8.2'
   hooks:
   - id: ruff
     args: [--fix, --exit-non-zero-on-fix]
-  files: ^src/.*\.py$
-  exclude: ^tests/
+  - id: ruff-format
 - repo: https://github.com/python-jsonschema/check-jsonschema
   rev: 0.22.0
   hooks:
@@ -19,12 +18,8 @@ repos:
   - id: yamllint
     args: [-d relaxed]
     verbose: true
-- repo: https://github.com/psf/black
-  rev: 23.1.0
-  hooks:
-  - id: black
 - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/mirrors-mypy
-  rev: v1.0.1
+  rev: v1.13.0
   hooks:
   - id: mypy
     # for args see https://mypy.readthedocs.io/en/stable/command_line.html
@@ -33,3 +28,4 @@ repos:
       --ignore-missing-imports,
       --allow-untyped-globals
     ]
+    files: ^(src|tests)/.*\.py$
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/__init__.py b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/docs/source/conf.py b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/docs/source/conf.py
index 3e3b63f..fc334b6 100644
--- a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/docs/source/conf.py	
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/docs/source/conf.py	
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 import sys
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(".."))
-import {{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}  # noqa: E402
+import {{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}
 
 # -- Project information -----------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@
 author = "{{ cookiecutter.author_name }}"
 
 # The full version, including alpha/beta/rc tags
-release = {{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}.__version__
-version = {{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}.__version__
+release = {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}.__version__
+version = {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}.__version__
 
 
 # -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/pyproject.toml b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/pyproject.toml
index 90f8273..554d87f 100644
--- a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/pyproject.toml	
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/pyproject.toml	
@@ -13,12 +13,16 @@ classifiers = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.10",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: Implementation :: PyPy"
 ]
 
 # Only packages in this group will be installed in the release image
 [tool.poetry.dependencies]
 python = "^3.9"
+pydantic = "^2.0.0"
+pydantic-settings = "^2.0.0"
 
 # documentation
 [tool.poetry.group.docs.dependencies]
@@ -42,7 +46,7 @@ tox = "^4.0.0"
 # deployment
 twine = "^4.0.2"
 
-[tool.ruff]
+[tool.ruff.lint]
 select = [
     "ANN",  # flake8-annotations
     "E",  # flake8
@@ -57,7 +61,6 @@ ignore = [
     "E501",
     "E712",
 
-    "ANN101",  # Missing type annotation for `self` in method
     "ANN202",  # Missing return type annotation for private function
     "ANN204",  # Missing return type annotation for special function
     "ANN401",  # Dynamically typed expressions (typing.Any) are disallowed
@@ -68,11 +71,11 @@ ignore = [
     "D106",  # Missing docstring in public nested class
 ]
 
-[tool.ruff.per-file-ignores]
+[tool.ruff.lint.per-file-ignores]
 "__init__.py" = ["F401"]
 "tests/**" = ["S", "ANN"]
 
-[tool.ruff.pydocstyle]
+[tool.ruff.lint.pydocstyle]
 convention = "numpy"
 
 
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/__init__.py b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/main.py b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/main.py
index 0c6e87c..50a1b76 100644
--- a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/main.py	
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/main.py	
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
-from {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}.utils.logger import logger
+import logging
+
+from {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}.utils import setup_logging
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 def main() -> None:
     """Run the project pipeline."""
+    setup_logging()
     logger.info("Running the project")
 
 
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/settings.py b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/settings.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37650eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/settings.py	
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import logging
+from typing import Any
+
+from pydantic import field_validator
+from pydantic_settings import BaseSettings
+
+
+class LogSettings(BaseSettings):
+    """Define settings for the logger."""
+
+    loglevel: int = logging.DEBUG  # loglevel for "our" packages
+    loglevel_3rdparty: int = logging.WARNING  # loglevel for 3rdparty packages
+    our_packages: list[str] = [
+        # list of "our" packages
+        "__main__",
+        "the_next_iteration",
+    ]
+    basicConfig: dict[str, Any] = {
+        # "basicConfig" of the logging module.
+        # Do not include the level parameter here since it's being controlled
+        # by the loglevel... parameters above.
+        "format": "%(asctime)s:%(levelname)s:%(name)s:%(message)s",
+    }
+
+    @field_validator("loglevel", "loglevel_3rdparty")
+    def string_to_loglevel(cls, v: str) -> int:
+        """Convert a string to a loglevel."""
+        try:
+            return int(v)
+        except TypeError:
+            v = v.lower()
+            if v == "debug":
+                return logging.DEBUG
+            elif v == "info":
+                return logging.INFO
+            elif v == "warning":
+                return logging.WARNING
+            elif v == "error":
+                return logging.ERROR
+            elif v == "critical":
+                return logging.CRITICAL
+            else:
+                raise ValueError(f"invalid loglevel {v}")
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/utils.py b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3402b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/src/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/utils.py	
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+import logging
+
+from {{cookiecutter.project_slug}}.settings import LogSettings
+
+
+def setup_logging() -> None:
+    """Set up the logging system."""
+    log_config = LogSettings()
+    logging.basicConfig(level=log_config.loglevel_3rdparty, **log_config.basicConfig)
+
+    our_loglevel = log_config.loglevel
+    for package in log_config.our_packages:
+        logging.getLogger(package).setLevel(our_loglevel)
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/tests/test_{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}.py b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/tests/test_{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}.py
index d151d51..bc1cec3 100644
--- a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/tests/test_{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}.py	
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/tests/test_{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}.py	
@@ -7,9 +7,7 @@
 
 def test_reminder():
     """Reminder to write tests."""
-    assert (
-        False
-    ), "If this test runs it probably means that you have not written your own tests yet 😱 Do it now!"
+    assert False, "If this test runs it probably means that you have not written your own tests yet 😱 Do it now!"
 
 
 def test_version_is_semver_string():
diff --git a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/tox.ini b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/tox.ini
index 636ae29..4596982 100644
--- a/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/tox.ini	
+++ b/{{ cookiecutter.project_slug }}/tox.ini	
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [tox]
-envlist = py39,py310,py311,pypy39
+envlist = py39,py310,py311,py312,py313,pypy39,pypy310
 isolated_build = True
 parallel = True
 
@@ -16,4 +16,7 @@ python =
     3.9: py39
     3.10: py310
     3.11: py311
+    3.12: py312
+    3.13: py313
     pypy-3.9: pypy39
+    pypy-3.10: pypy310