Particle-γ coincidence data have been analyzed to obtain the nuclear level density and the γ -strength function of 64 Ni by means of the Oslo method. The level density found in this work is in very good agreement with known energy levels at low excitation energies as well as with data deduced from particle-evaporation measurements at excitation energies above E x ≈ 5.5 MeV. The experimental γ -strength function presents an enhancement at γ energies below E γ ≈ 3 MeV and possibly a resonancelike structure centered at E γ ≈ 9.2 MeV. The obtained nuclear level density and γ -strength function have been used to estimate the (n,γ ) cross section for the s-process branch-point nucleus 63 Ni, of particular interest for astrophysical calculations of elemental abundances.