diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 282fb31..53679ab 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -29,6 +29,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "zerocopy",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "aho-corasick"
+version = "1.1.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8e60d3430d3a69478ad0993f19238d2df97c507009a52b3c10addcd7f6bcb916"
+dependencies = [
+ "memchr",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "allocator-api2"
 version = "0.2.18"
@@ -94,7 +103,7 @@ checksum = "6e0c28dcc82d7c8ead5cb13beb15405b57b8546e93215673ff8ca0349a028107"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -178,7 +187,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "heck 0.4.1",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -469,7 +478,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
  "strsim",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -480,7 +489,7 @@ checksum = "d336a2a514f6ccccaa3e09b02d41d35330c07ddf03a62165fcec10bb561c7806"
 dependencies = [
  "darling_core",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -525,7 +534,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "dsl_auto_type",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -534,7 +543,7 @@ version = "0.2.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "209c735641a413bc68c4923a9d6ad4bcb3ca306b794edaa7eb0b3228a99ffb25"
 dependencies = [
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -620,7 +629,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "prettyplease",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -730,7 +739,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "convert_case",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -833,7 +842,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
  "slab",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -847,7 +856,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "krates",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
  "tracing",
 ]
 
@@ -923,7 +932,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
  "server_fn_macro",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -943,7 +952,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "heck 0.5.0",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -979,7 +988,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "darling",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1112,7 +1121,7 @@ checksum = "87750cf4b7a4c0625b1529e4c543c2182106e4dedc60a2a6455e00d212c489ac"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1872,7 +1881,7 @@ checksum = "2f38a4412a78282e09a2cf38d195ea5420d15ba0602cb375210efbc877243965"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1923,7 +1932,31 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "5f12335488a2f3b0a83b14edad48dca9879ce89b2edd10e80237e4e852dd645e"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "proc-macro-error"
+version = "1.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "da25490ff9892aab3fcf7c36f08cfb902dd3e71ca0f9f9517bea02a73a5ce38c"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro-error-attr",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 1.0.109",
+ "version_check",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "proc-macro-error-attr"
+version = "1.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a1be40180e52ecc98ad80b184934baf3d0d29f979574e439af5a55274b35f869"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "version_check",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1983,6 +2016,35 @@ dependencies = [
  "bitflags",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "regex"
+version = "1.10.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4219d74c6b67a3654a9fbebc4b419e22126d13d2f3c4a07ee0cb61ff79a79619"
+dependencies = [
+ "aho-corasick",
+ "memchr",
+ "regex-automata",
+ "regex-syntax",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "regex-automata"
+version = "0.4.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "38caf58cc5ef2fed281f89292ef23f6365465ed9a41b7a7754eb4e26496c92df"
+dependencies = [
+ "aho-corasick",
+ "memchr",
+ "regex-syntax",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "regex-syntax"
+version = "0.8.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7a66a03ae7c801facd77a29370b4faec201768915ac14a721ba36f20bc9c209b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustc-demangle"
 version = "0.1.24"
@@ -2078,7 +2140,7 @@ checksum = "24008e81ff7613ed8e5ba0cfaf24e2c2f1e5b8a0495711e44fcd4882fca62bcf"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2122,7 +2184,7 @@ checksum = "6c64451ba24fc7a6a2d60fc75dd9c83c90903b19028d4eff35e88fc1e86564e9"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2181,7 +2243,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "convert_case",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
  "xxhash-rust",
 ]
 
@@ -2192,7 +2254,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "556e4fd51eb9ee3e7d9fb0febec6cef486dcbc8f7f427591dfcfebee1abe1ad4"
 dependencies = [
  "server_fn_macro",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2256,7 +2318,7 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "edc90d3e8623d29a664cd8dba5078b600dd203444f00b9739f744e4c6e7aeaf2"
 dependencies = [
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2317,6 +2379,16 @@ version = "0.11.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7da8b5736845d9f2fcb837ea5d9e2628564b3b043a70948a3f0b778838c5fb4f"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "syn"
+version = "1.0.109"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "72b64191b275b66ffe2469e8af2c1cfe3bafa67b529ead792a6d0160888b4237"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "unicode-ident",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "syn"
 version = "2.0.74"
@@ -2357,7 +2429,7 @@ checksum = "a4558b58466b9ad7ca0f102865eccc95938dca1a74a856f2b57b6629050da261"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2400,6 +2472,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "dioxus-logger",
  "dotenvy",
  "serde",
+ "validator",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2428,7 +2501,7 @@ checksum = "693d596312e88961bc67d7f1f97af8a70227d9f90c31bba5806eec004978d752"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2543,7 +2616,7 @@ checksum = "34704c8d6ebcbc939824180af020566b01a7c01f80641264eba0999f6c2b6be7"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2692,6 +2765,36 @@ version = "0.7.6"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "09cc8ee72d2a9becf2f2febe0205bbed8fc6615b7cb429ad062dc7b7ddd036a9"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "validator"
+version = "0.18.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "db79c75af171630a3148bd3e6d7c4f42b6a9a014c2945bc5ed0020cbb8d9478e"
+dependencies = [
+ "idna",
+ "once_cell",
+ "regex",
+ "serde",
+ "serde_derive",
+ "serde_json",
+ "url",
+ "validator_derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "validator_derive"
+version = "0.18.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "55591299b7007f551ed1eb79a684af7672c19c3193fb9e0a31936987bb2438ec"
+dependencies = [
+ "darling",
+ "once_cell",
+ "proc-macro-error",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "valuable"
 version = "0.1.0"
@@ -2738,7 +2841,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "once_cell",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
 
@@ -2772,7 +2875,7 @@ checksum = "afc340c74d9005395cf9dd098506f7f44e38f2b4a21c6aaacf9a105ea5e1e836"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
  "wasm-bindgen-backend",
  "wasm-bindgen-shared",
 ]
@@ -2934,5 +3037,5 @@ checksum = "fa4f8080344d4671fb4e831a13ad1e68092748387dfc4f55e356242fae12ce3e"
 dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
- "syn",
+ "syn 2.0.74",
 ]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 825ac02..9eabee1 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ dioxus = { version = "0.5", features = ["fullstack", "router"] }
 dioxus-logger = "0.5.1"
 dotenvy = "0.15.7"
 serde = "1.0.208"
+validator = { version = "0.18.1", features = ["derive"] }
 
 [features]
 default = []
diff --git a/src/components/home.rs b/src/components/home.rs
index 2a4b74f..c2d3ab9 100644
--- a/src/components/home.rs
+++ b/src/components/home.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pub(crate) fn Home() -> Element {
         ProjectForm {
             onsubmit: move |title| {
                 spawn(async move {
-                    let _ = create_project(title).await;
+                    create_project(title).await;
                 });
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/components/project_form.rs b/src/components/project_form.rs
index 628d756..53e30ec 100644
--- a/src/components/project_form.rs
+++ b/src/components/project_form.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
+use crate::models::project::NewProject;
 use dioxus::core_macro::{component, rsx};
 use dioxus::dioxus_core::Element;
 use dioxus::prelude::*;
 
 #[component]
-pub(crate) fn ProjectForm(onsubmit: EventHandler<String>) -> Element {
+pub(crate) fn ProjectForm(onsubmit: EventHandler<NewProject>) -> Element {
     rsx! {
         form {
             onsubmit: move |event| {
-                onsubmit(event.values().get("title").unwrap().as_value());
+                onsubmit(NewProject::new(event.values().get("title").unwrap().as_value()));
             },
             input {
                 r#type: "text",
diff --git a/src/errors/error.rs b/src/errors/error.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dc235c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/errors/error.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use std::fmt::Display;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
+pub enum Error {
+    ServerInternal,
+}
+
+// has to be implemented for Dioxus server functions
+impl Display for Error {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            Error::ServerInternal => write!(f, "internal server error"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+// has to be implemented for Dioxus server functions
+impl FromStr for Error {
+    type Err = ();
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        Ok(match s {
+            "internal server error" => Error::ServerInternal,
+            _ => return Err(()),
+        })
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/errors/error_vec.rs b/src/errors/error_vec.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..557b338
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/errors/error_vec.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+use std::fmt::Display;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub struct ErrorVec<T> {
+    errors: Vec<T>,
+}
+
+impl<T> From<ErrorVec<T>> for Vec<T> {
+    fn from(e: ErrorVec<T>) -> Self {
+        e.errors
+    }
+}
+
+impl<T> From<Vec<T>> for ErrorVec<T> {
+    fn from(e: Vec<T>) -> Self {
+        ErrorVec { errors: e }
+    }
+}
+
+// has to be implemented for Dioxus server functions
+impl<T: Display> Display for ErrorVec<T> {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        write!(
+            f,
+            "{}",
+            self.errors
+                .iter()
+                .map(|e| e.to_string())
+                .collect::<Vec<String>>()
+                .join("\n")
+        )
+    }
+}
+
+// has to be implemented for Dioxus server functions
+impl<T> FromStr for ErrorVec<T> {
+    type Err = ();
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        Ok(ErrorVec { errors: Vec::new() })
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/errors/mod.rs b/src/errors/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..625611e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/errors/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+pub(crate) mod error;
+pub(crate) mod error_vec;
+pub(crate) mod project_create_error;
diff --git a/src/errors/project_create_error.rs b/src/errors/project_create_error.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..99ec5ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/errors/project_create_error.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+use crate::errors::error::Error;
+use crate::errors::error_vec::ErrorVec;
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use std::fmt::Display;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+use validator::{ValidationErrors, ValidationErrorsKind};
+
+#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)]
+pub enum ProjectCreateError {
+    TitleTooShort,
+    Error(Error),
+}
+
+impl From<ValidationErrors> for ErrorVec<ProjectCreateError> {
+    fn from(e: ValidationErrors) -> Self {
+        e.errors()
+            .iter()
+            .flat_map(|(&field, error_kind)| match field {
+                "title_length" => match error_kind {
+                    ValidationErrorsKind::Field(validation_errors) => validation_errors
+                        .iter()
+                        .map(|validation_error| match validation_error.code.as_ref() {
+                            "length" => ProjectCreateError::TitleTooShort,
+                            _ => ProjectCreateError::Error(Error::ServerInternal),
+                        })
+                        .collect::<Vec<ProjectCreateError>>(),
+                    _ => panic!("unexpected error kind"),
+                },
+                _ => panic!("unexpected field name"),
+            })
+            .collect::<Vec<ProjectCreateError>>()
+            .into()
+    }
+}
+
+// has to be implemented for Dioxus server functions
+impl Display for ProjectCreateError {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        write!(f, "{}", dbg!(self))
+    }
+}
+
+// has to be implemented for Dioxus server functions
+impl FromStr for ProjectCreateError {
+    type Err = ();
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        Ok(ProjectCreateError::Error(Error::ServerInternal))
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index ff7692a..95dffb9 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #![allow(non_snake_case)]
 
 mod components;
+mod errors;
 mod models;
 mod route;
 mod schema;
diff --git a/src/models/project.rs b/src/models/project.rs
index c312217..d2a58b8 100644
--- a/src/models/project.rs
+++ b/src/models/project.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 use crate::schema::projects;
 use diesel::prelude::*;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use validator::Validate;
+
+const TITLE_LENGTH_MIN: u64 = 1;
+const TITLE_LENGTH_MAX: u64 = 255;
 
 #[derive(Queryable, Selectable, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 #[diesel(table_name = crate::schema::projects)]
@@ -20,8 +24,19 @@ impl Project {
     }
 }
 
-#[derive(Insertable, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[derive(Insertable, Serialize, Deserialize, Validate, Clone, Debug)]
 #[diesel(table_name = projects)]
-pub struct NewProject<'a> {
-    pub title: &'a str,
+pub struct NewProject {
+    #[validate(length(
+        min = "TITLE_LENGTH_MIN",
+        max = "TITLE_LENGTH_MAX",
+        code = "title_length"
+    ))]
+    pub title: String,
+}
+
+impl NewProject {
+    pub fn new(title: String) -> Self {
+        Self { title }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/server/database_connection.rs b/src/server/database_connection.rs
index 717e63e..826f7c8 100644
--- a/src/server/database_connection.rs
+++ b/src/server/database_connection.rs
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@ use diesel::prelude::*;
 use dotenvy::dotenv;
 use std::env;
 
-pub(crate) fn establish_database_connection() -> PgConnection {
+pub(crate) fn establish_database_connection() -> ConnectionResult<PgConnection> {
     dotenv().ok();
 
-    let database_url = env::var("DATABASE_URL").expect("DATABASE_URL must be set");
+    let database_url =
+        env::var("DATABASE_URL").expect("The environment variable DATABASE_URL must be set.");
     PgConnection::establish(&database_url)
-        .unwrap_or_else(|_| panic!("error connecting to {}", database_url))
 }
diff --git a/src/server/projects.rs b/src/server/projects.rs
index 734e281..85bfb1a 100644
--- a/src/server/projects.rs
+++ b/src/server/projects.rs
@@ -1,21 +1,33 @@
+use crate::errors::error::Error;
+use crate::errors::error_vec::ErrorVec;
+use crate::errors::project_create_error::ProjectCreateError;
 use crate::models::project::{NewProject, Project};
 use crate::server::database_connection::establish_database_connection;
 use diesel::{RunQueryDsl, SelectableHelper};
 use dioxus::prelude::*;
+use validator::Validate;
 
 #[server]
-pub(crate) async fn create_project(title: String) -> Result<Project, ServerFnError> {
+pub(crate) async fn create_project(
+    new_project: NewProject,
+) -> Result<Project, ServerFnError<ErrorVec<ProjectCreateError>>> {
     use crate::schema::projects;
 
-    let mut connection = establish_database_connection();
+    new_project
+        .validate()
+        .map_err::<ErrorVec<ProjectCreateError>, _>(|errors| errors.into())?;
 
-    let new_project = NewProject {
-        title: title.as_str(),
-    };
+    let mut connection =
+        establish_database_connection().or::<ErrorVec<ProjectCreateError>>(Err(vec![
+            ProjectCreateError::Error(Error::ServerInternal),
+        ]
+        .into()))?;
 
-    Ok(diesel::insert_into(projects::table)
+    let new_project = diesel::insert_into(projects::table)
         .values(&new_project)
         .returning(Project::as_returning())
         .get_result(&mut connection)
-        .expect("error saving a new project"))
+        .expect("error saving a new project");
+
+    Ok(new_project)
 }