Heavy-ion collisions (HIC) allow exploring the nuclear equation of state (EoS) under laboratory controlled conditions. In such complex dynamical systems particle-particle correlations probe dynamics and thermodynamics of hot nuclear systems. Moreover, correlations can also be used as a spectroscopic tool. This proposal consists of studying an N/Z-symmetric ( 32 S+ 12 C) and a neutron-rich ( 36 S+ 12 C) reaction system at two beam energies (25 and 55 MeV/u) to explore in-medium effects on nuclear structure properties of unbound, Hoyle and cluster states, by means of multi-particle correlations.