diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 0f08daa..e3caf39 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
+celery
 python-dateutil
diff --git a/swh/core/scheduling.py b/swh/core/scheduling.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c4f52b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swh/core/scheduling.py
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2015  The Software Heritage developers
+# See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
+# License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
+# See top-level LICENSE file for more information
+
+import celery
+
+
+class Task(celery.Task):
+    """a schedulable task (abstract class)
+
+    Sub-classes must implement the run() method
+
+    Current implementation is based on Celery. See
+    http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/reference/celery.app.task.html for
+    how to use tasks once instantiated
+
+    """
+    def run(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        raise NotImplementedError('tasks must implement the run() method')
diff --git a/swh/core/tests/test_scheduling.py b/swh/core/tests/test_scheduling.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2527f33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/swh/core/tests/test_scheduling.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2015  The Software Heritage developers
+# See the AUTHORS file at the top-level directory of this distribution
+# License: GNU General Public License version 3, or any later version
+# See top-level LICENSE file for more information
+
+import unittest
+
+from nose.tools import istest
+
+from swh.core import scheduling
+
+
+class Scheduling(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    @istest
+    def not_implemented_task(self):
+        class NotImplementedTask(scheduling.Task):
+            pass
+
+        with self.assertRaises(NotImplementedError):
+            NotImplementedTask().run()
+
+    @istest
+    def add_task(self):
+        class AddTask(scheduling.Task):
+            def run(self, x, y):
+                return x + y
+
+        r = AddTask().apply([2, 3])
+        self.assertTrue(r.successful())
+        self.assertEqual(r.result, 5)