The beginning of July marked the beginning of Elisabeth’s ERC project, and the lab welcomes its two newest members – and its first PhD students. Leïla Jacquot, holding a Master degree in Microbiology from Université Paris-Saclay, France, will work on the cultivation of kleptoplastidic lineages and test their physiological properties, while Christina Jasinski, a recent graduate of the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, will investigate the dynamics of gene transfer in kleptoplastidic lineages and lineages with replaced plastids. We look forward to working with them!