diff --git a/docs/index.rst b/docs/index.rst
index 3ba68e6c65e..ec918f006c4 100644
--- a/docs/index.rst
+++ b/docs/index.rst
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ rapid spectral modelling of supernovae. The code is described in this documentat
     gui
     uses
     examples/examples
+    testing
     atomic
     plasma
     montecarlo
diff --git a/docs/testing.rst b/docs/testing.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..07b882a2402
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/testing.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+Testing TARDIS
+--------------
+
+Testing a code like TARDIS is an important step to making sure that the output is trustworthy. The TARDIS team has opted
+to use the py.test testing framework for use with TARDIS (and some astropy extensions of it). To run the tests download
+the desired version of TARDIS and run it with::
+
+    python setup.py test
+
+This will run the currently implemented tests (which are not as many as there should be)
+
+To quickly test TARDIS with any atomic dataset (it will only see if it in general runs)::
+
+    python setup.py test --args="--atomic-dataset=<path_to_dataset> -s"
+
diff --git a/tardis/io/tests/data/tardis_configv1_verysimple.yml b/tardis/io/tests/data/tardis_configv1_verysimple.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0f5c64ff930
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tardis/io/tests/data/tardis_configv1_verysimple.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+tardis_config_version: v1.0
+
+supernova:
+    luminosity_requested: 2.8e9 Lsun
+    time_explosion: 13 day
+
+atom_data: kurucz_atom_pure_simple.h5
+
+model:
+
+    structure:
+        type: specific
+
+        velocity:
+            start: 1.1e4 km/s
+            stop: 2.0e4 km/s
+            num: 20
+
+        density:
+            type: branch85_w7
+
+    abundances:
+        type: uniform
+        O: 0.19
+        Mg: 0.03
+        Si: 0.52
+        S: 0.19
+        Ar: 0.04
+        Ca: 0.03
+
+plasma:
+    ionization: lte
+    excitation: lte
+    radiative_rates_type: dilute-blackbody
+    line_interaction_type: macroatom
+
+montecarlo:
+    seed: 23111963
+    no_of_packets : 2.0e+5
+    iterations: 5
+    last_no_of_packets: 5.0e+5
+    no_of_virtual_packets: 5
+
+spectrum:
+    start: 500 angstrom
+    stop: 20000 angstrom
+    num: 10000
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tardis/tests/conftest.py b/tardis/tests/conftest.py
index a8e97da1527..9fac7635d19 100644
--- a/tardis/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tardis/tests/conftest.py
@@ -1 +1,4 @@
-# file for setting up tests
+#py.test configuration
+
+def pytest_addoption(parser):
+    parser.addoption("--atomic-dataset", dest='atomic-dataset', default=None, help="filename for atomic dataset")
diff --git a/tardis/tests/test_tardis_full.py b/tardis/tests/test_tardis_full.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..da812dbfbeb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tardis/tests/test_tardis_full.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import pytest
+import os
+import yaml
+from tardis import io, model, simulation
+from tardis.io.config_reader import TARDISConfiguration
+from numpy.testing import assert_array_almost_equal
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(not pytest.config.getvalue("atomic-dataset"),
+                    reason='--atomic_database was not specified')
+class TestSimpleRun():
+    """
+    Very simple run
+    """
+
+    @classmethod
+    @pytest.fixture(scope="class", autouse=True)
+    def setup(self):
+        self.atom_data_filename = pytest.config.getvalue('atomic-dataset')
+        assert os.path.exists(self.atom_data_filename)
+        self.config_yaml = yaml.load(open('tardis/io/tests/data/tardis_configv1_verysimple.yml'))
+        self.config_yaml['atom_data'] = self.atom_data_filename
+
+        self.config = TARDISConfiguration.from_config_dict(self.config_yaml)
+        self.model = model.Radial1DModel(self.config)
+        simulation.run_radial1d(self.model)
+
+
+    def test_structure(self):
+        pass
\ No newline at end of file