diff --git a/RESEARCH_JOURNAL.md b/RESEARCH_JOURNAL.md
index 8726f26..bf4d894 100644
--- a/RESEARCH_JOURNAL.md
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@@ -2,6 +2,27 @@
 
 Append-only. New entries at the top, date-stamped. Never edit old entries.
 
+## 2026-05-27 (e) — first student hacks in #51 at ref_eq=13.5
+
+#51 (projected, no_gate target + 25% susp gate, Qwen3-4B, mix=0.5) row 71:
+`hack_s=1/24` (first student hack). Row 72 also 1/24. Row 73 back to 0/24.
+Isolated breakthroughs, not a sustained climb yet.
+
+`cin_s` at rows 71-72 was 0.214 / 0.227, above the prior 0.17-0.20 baseline.
+First coincidence of `hack_s > 0` with elevated `cin_s` — consistent with
+"loss gradient is pushing more hack-ward and some leaked through the susp
+gate's 25% drop".
+
+This sets the upper bound for how aggressively hacking emerges under
+partial projection. The decisive comparison is #52 vanilla (queued).
+Two questions:
+1. Does vanilla cross hack_s=1/24 earlier than ref_eq=13.5?
+2. Once vanilla starts, does hack_s climb faster than projected's
+   isolated 0/1/1/0 pattern?
+
+A delay or a slower climb in projected (vs vanilla) is a positive signal
+for the method even though the susp gate is leaving 25% leakage.
+
 ## 2026-05-27 (d) — cin_s rising while hack_s stays zero (projected, mid-run)
 
 In #51 (projected no_gate, 100 steps, Qwen3-4B + 50% cached teacher pool),