Michael Scot
Ackermann studied History and Oriental Languages at the University of Frankfurt in Germany. After working for the "Regesta Imperii" Project, she wrote an MA thesis on the 13th-century mathematician, astronomer and astrologer Michael Scot entitled "Michael Scot: a universal scholar of the 13th century: Sources of his life - Tradition of his works". Ackermann continued this research for her PhD which she presented in 1996, and was later published as a book. During this research, Ackermann studied History of Science at the Institute for the History of Science within Frankfurt University and acted as an assistant to David King.