You may wish to publish your thesis, in whole or in part, with or without modification. This is one reason why it is important to obtain the right consents in the beginning, so that you are able to do so without delay or complications. Having permissions in place is also favoured by publishers.
Where your thesis is sponsored and you have signed contractual agreements, you may need to check that publication will not breach those contracts leaving you or the University open to legal action.
Where you publish your thesis prior to submission in whole or in part, you should disclose to your publisher, that you will be required to deposit your final thesis in the University's open access research archive.
As standard, many publishers ask you to transfer full copyright ownership to them, however, as a contract, it must be open to negotiation, and you should try to retain your copyright ownership if possible. You may be able to choose an open access option, giving the publisher a licence to publish. If publishing with a Brunel academic as co-author, you must publish using open access mechanisms under University policy. This gives your work maximum visibility and raises your profile, and that of the University.