Gerda Heck received her PHD in Sociology in 2006. In her dissertation she discusses the phenomenon of undocumented immigration in Germany and the US, and mainly focused on the development of the migration regime in both states, the public discussion on the subject and the influencing thereof by relevant initiatives. Since the beginning of 2007 she has been conducting research on the shifting of EU migration policy towards North African countries and the strategies of sub-Saharan migrants on the migration routes towards Europe. In her current research project she investigates the role of (neo-)Pentecostal church communities on the migration routes in different cities with regard to Congolese migration.