Judit Ferrer Asensio
Postdoctoral Fellow
I am an astrochemist. I graduated in B. Sc. in Chemistry in 2018 from University Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Bellaterra, Spain. I obtained my M. Sc. in Astronomy Research in 2020 at Leiden University in Leiden, The Netherlands and my Ph.D. at the Centre for Astrochemical Studies in the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching bei München, Germany. Currently, I hold a Special Postdoctoral Researcher (SPDR) Fellowship in the Star and Planet Formation Laboratory, RIKEN in Tokyo, Japan.
Research
My interests encompass early-stage star formation and chemical complexity.
I focus on the study of the physical, chemical and kinematic structure of pre-stellar cores through single-dish observations of molecular transitions.
Moreover, I am interested in the origin and transfer of chemical complexity in the star and planet formation process. I build accurate molecular spectroscopic catalogues in the laboratory with the aim of detecting Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) in the gas phase in the Interstellar Medium (ISM) and deriving their abundances. From observed molecular abundance density ratios we retrieve hints on their formation routes, which deepens our understanding on chemical processes in the ISM.
* The symbols indicate which techniques (observations, laboratory) are present in the article listed next to them.
"c-C3H2 deuteration towards prestellar and starless cores in the Perseus molecular cloud", 707, A28, A&A (2026). Read it
"Gas phase Elemental abundances in Molecular cloudS (GEMS) XII. First look into the para-to-ortho ratio of c-C3D2 towards prestellar cores", eprint arXiv:2609.24285 (2026). Read it
"Sulphur-bearing molecule survey towards prestellar and starless cores in the Perseus molecular cloud", eprint arXiv:2610.17556 (2026). Read it
Awards
Publication of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Star Reviewer
The Josef Plíva Prize 2022 - The 26th International Conference on High Resolution Molecular Spectroscopy (Prague, Czech Republic)