diff --git a/projects/migrations/0020_project_cover_defaultprojectcover.py b/projects/migrations/0020_project_cover_defaultprojectcover.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f30827dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/projects/migrations/0020_project_cover_defaultprojectcover.py
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2.3 on 2023-09-07 07:13
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+import django.db.models.deletion
+import projects.models
+
+# Generated by Django 4.1.3 on 2023-06-27 11:46
+import django
+from django.db import migrations, models
+import projects.models
+
+
+def create_default_project_cover(apps, schema_editor):
+    # create a random default cover using a random UserFile
+    DefaultProjectCover = apps.get_model("projects", "DefaultProjectCover")
+    default_cover = DefaultProjectCover.objects.create()
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("projects", "0018_alter_defaultprojectcover_image_alter_project_cover"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.RunPython(create_default_project_cover),
+        migrations.AlterField(
+            model_name="project",
+            name="cover",
+            field=models.ForeignKey(
+                default=projects.models.DefaultProjectCover.get_random_file,
+                on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.SET_DEFAULT,
+                related_name="project_cover",
+                to="files.userfile",
+                null=True,
+                blank=True
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("files", "0005_alter_userfile_options"),
+        ("projects", "0019_alter_project_options_project_hidden_score"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.CreateModel(
+            name="DefaultProjectCover",
+            fields=[
+                (
+                    "id",
+                    models.BigAutoField(
+                        auto_created=True,
+                        primary_key=True,
+                        serialize=False,
+                        verbose_name="ID",
+                    ),
+                ),
+                (
+                    "datetime_created",
+                    models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True, verbose_name="Дата создания"),
+                ),
+                (
+                    "datetime_updated",
+                    models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True, verbose_name="Дата изменения"),
+                ),
+                (
+                    "image",
+                    models.ForeignKey(
+                        blank=True,
+                        null=True,
+                        on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.CASCADE,
+                        related_name="default_covers",
+                        to="files.userfile",
+                    ),
+                ),
+            ],
+            options={
+                "verbose_name": "Обложка проекта",
+                "verbose_name_plural": "Обложки проектов",
+            },
+        ),
+        migrations.RunPython(create_default_project_cover),
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="project",
+            name="cover",
+            field=models.ForeignKey(
+                blank=True,
+                default=projects.models.DefaultProjectCover.get_random_file,
+                null=True,
+                on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.SET_DEFAULT,
+                related_name="project_cover",
+                to="files.userfile",
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/projects/models.py b/projects/models.py
index bc81024f..e8031e23 100644
--- a/projects/models.py
+++ b/projects/models.py
@@ -15,6 +15,45 @@
 User = get_user_model()
 
 
+class DefaultProjectCover(models.Model):
+    """
+    Default cover model for projects, is chosen randomly at project creation
+
+    Attributes:
+        image: A ForeignKey referencing the image of the cover.
+        datetime_created: A DateTimeField indicating date of creation.
+        datetime_updated: A DateTimeField indicating date of update.
+    """
+
+    image = models.ForeignKey(
+        UserFile,
+        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
+        related_name="default_covers",
+        null=True,
+        blank=True,
+    )
+
+    datetime_created = models.DateTimeField(
+        verbose_name="Дата создания",
+        null=False,
+        auto_now_add=True,
+    )
+    datetime_updated = models.DateTimeField(
+        verbose_name="Дата изменения",
+        null=False,
+        auto_now=True,
+    )
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_random_file(cls):
+        # FIXME: this is not efficient, but for ~10 default covers it should be ok
+        return cls.objects.order_by("?").first().image
+
+    class Meta:
+        verbose_name = "Обложка проекта"
+        verbose_name_plural = "Обложки проектов"
+
+
 class Project(models.Model):
     """
     Project model
@@ -30,6 +69,7 @@ class Project(models.Model):
         image_address: A URLField image URL address.
         leader: A ForeignKey referring to the User model.
         draft: A boolean indicating if Project is a draft.
+        cover: A ForeignKey referring to the UserFile model, which is the image cover of the project.
         datetime_created: A DateTimeField indicating date of creation.
         datetime_updated: A DateTimeField indicating date of update.
     """
@@ -58,6 +98,15 @@ class Project(models.Model):
 
     draft = models.BooleanField(blank=False, default=True)
 
+    cover = models.ForeignKey(
+        UserFile,
+        default=DefaultProjectCover.get_random_file,
+        on_delete=models.SET_DEFAULT,
+        related_name="project_cover",
+        null=True,
+        blank=True,
+    )
+
     datetime_created = models.DateTimeField(
         verbose_name="Дата создания", null=False, auto_now_add=True
     )
diff --git a/projects/serializers.py b/projects/serializers.py
index cfa0b606..111eae88 100644
--- a/projects/serializers.py
+++ b/projects/serializers.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 from core.fields import CustomListField
 from core.services import get_views_count, get_likes_count, is_fan
+from files.serializers import UserFileSerializer
 from industries.models import Industry
 from projects.models import Project, Achievement, Collaborator, ProjectNews
 from projects.validators import validate_project
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ class Meta:
 
 class ProjectDetailSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
     achievements = AchievementListSerializer(many=True, read_only=True)
+    cover = UserFileSerializer(required=False)
     collaborators = CollaboratorSerializer(
         source="collaborator_set", many=True, read_only=True
     )
@@ -127,7 +129,8 @@ class Meta:
             "datetime_updated",
             "views_count",
             "likes_count",
-            "partner_programs_tags",
+            "cover",
+            "partner_programs_tags"
         ]
         read_only_fields = [
             "leader",