The ultimate goal is to synthesize new drug molecules or new types of plastic.

BBC: Tiny molecular machine apes cellular production line

The researchers' ultimate goal is to see if changes in the ocean followed or proceeded changes in the atmosphere.

CNN: Scientists discover new species in ocean's depths

The ultimate goal of virtualisation is to make a data centre, or even several of them, look like a single pool of computing, storage and networking resources that can be allocated as needed.

ECONOMIST: Virtualisation

Many start with various pre-pre-school training schemes that will, with luck, lead to the ultimate goal: a post-graduate degree from a prestigious foreign or domestic university.

CNN: LITTLE EMPERORS

Remind yourself of your ultimate goal, whether that goal is an outcome you want to achieve or the kind of person and leader you want to be.

FORBES: How To Make It Through Personal Difficulty At Work

One ultimate goal: to let machines talk to machines to transact business for you (or your company), without your ever having to go online to issue the orders.

FORBES: Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Or they can try to manage the stampede, riding along, gently guiding it toward the ultimate goal of the congressional elections, leading it with some good ideas, but doing their best not to get their own agenda trampled on.

CNN: Commentary: How GOP can manage Tea Party

The ultimate goal is publication in a prestigious academic journal, but that does not make it useful, or even offer a guarantee that the research findings provide much insight into the workings of business reality.

FORBES: Business schools suffer from a dangerous lack of evidence based teaching

But the ultimate goal is to create a world where self-aware vehicles can drive passengers around without hitting pedestrians or bumping into other vehicles.

BBC: Cutting traffic with driverless cars